Woman, 22, who ‘failed catastrophically’ on her three major driving test, including breaking the speed limit, gets her license after traveling 65 miles to try again in the city with the UK’s highest pass rate
- Emma Cannon, 22, passed her test after a 65-mile journey to Dorchester, Dorset
- She has urged others to think about their field test location before booking
A woman who “failed catastrophically” on her three-major driving test traveled to the location with the highest pass rate in the country and got her driver’s license.
Emma Cannon, 22, from Chippenham, Wiltshire, said she thought she would ‘never pass’ her test after going over the speed limit and breaking down in tears on her first attempt.
But Miss Cannon was ‘over the moon’ to pass with just one minor after traveling 65 miles to Dorchester, Dorset, the place in the UK with the highest success rate.
She has urged other drivers to consider the location of their testing center when booking to give themselves the best chance of passing.
She said: ‘I started driving in April 2022 and had my first test booked in my area in Chippenham for the end of October.
Emma Cannon, 22, from Chippenham, Wiltshire, said she thought she would ‘never pass’ her test after going over the speed limit and breaking down in tears on her first try
But Miss Cannon was ‘over the moon’ to graduate with just one minor after traveling 65 miles to Dorchester, Dorset, the place in the UK with the highest success rate
“It was a disaster, it was so bad. I felt uncomfortable and tense, I made the most stupid mistakes.
“I forgot to turn on my lights and when she asked me to open the hood, I tried to put the stick in the wrong place.”
Miss Cannon said things went from bad to worse when she was assigned to do a parallel park.
She said, “I got my maneuver in five minutes and knew I had failed. I parked on the sidewalk. I asked if I could adapt and she said no.’
She burst into tears at that point and just wanted to “get back to the testing center,” but had to keep going.
Miss Cannon added: ‘We were driving and the test instructor said nothing. She took me to an intersection that led to a dual carriageway.
“She thought I wasn’t looking at the road enough, so she slowed down and took the wheel. We continued, but I really just wanted to go back to the test center.’
She said she was speeding because there was a 30 mph limit due to roadworks and got three majors.
Miss Cannon said the instructor had “no emotion” when she was told she had failed the test.
But she searched the internet for the area with the highest success rate in the UK and found it to be Dorchester, Dorset, 65 miles away.
She drove her car with her mother in the passenger seat and took the test in February 2023.
She said, ‘It was such a different experience, the people were so nice, they put me at ease. I didn’t know the area, it was very rural. The test instructor was very nice and put me at ease.’
“I was just so happy, it’s great that I can ride now. I live in the middle of nowhere so I went crazy. There are three buses a day where I live.
“I was so scared for so long, but I think the instructor you get really makes a difference. A lot in your head, you start to think about it.’
She drove her car with her mother in the passenger seat and took the test in February 2023