Took CBT today - not a good result.

[Norm_Leeds]

To say I am on a downer is a massive understatement.

I went for my CBT today. The fact that I turned up and forgot my paper side of my license didn't help but we managed to sort it with a quick call to the DVLA. So off we went.

First challenge. Eyesight test. Read that plate - no problem. Then the instructer asked (because I have a noticable now and then glide in my left eye) - do you have defective vision in your left eye?

My answer was yes. Do you use something to correct it? No was my answer cos I'm blind in it. When he told me this may be a problem it rocked me to the core. It shattered what little confidence I had from the outset. We carried on though and he was willing to let me go ahead and do the course and get my CBT.

From that moment onwards I was sh1tting myself. What if I went for the real test and they pulled me up? Would this jeopordise my driving license? I am 39 and been driving for 20 years.

My driving license does not state that I have defective vision which he seriously expected. My eyesight problem is from birth.

And yes before anybody asks I lied when I was 18 when I applied for my driving license. I have NEVER had a crash. I have a clean license.

Before we were about to go out on the road my confidence and thought train was so bollocksed by this that I opted out. I passed everything up to then and we were getting the radio mikes ready. I just thought sod this I'm off cos my mind was elsewhere and the thought of hitting traffic was too much. My instructer was gob smacked cos I had passed eveything.

Should I come clean with the DVLA and get it sorted or do I risk getting banned for life? I'm currently extremely anxious - what if they report me to the DVLA? ( the test center that is )

In a nutshell I'm blind in my left eye. I passed my driving test at 18. I am now 39 with no accidents and a clean license but I did lie on my application.

I will never risk my driving license for a bike license. SHould I seek legal help??

And before anybody says - yes I know I am a twat for not saying so 20 years ago but the gamble paid off until this moment.

Cheers.



Feel bloody horrendous this evening.

[Bendy]

Okay, from the DVLA website we have:

MONOCULAR VISION

(includes the use of one eye only for driving)

Complete loss of vision in one eye. Must notify DVLA but may drive when clinically advised that

1) driver has adapted to the disability and
2) the prescribed eyesight standard in the remaining eye can be satisfied and
3) there is a normal monocular visual field in the remaining eye, i.e. there is no area of defect which is caused by pathology.


So as long as the working eye meets standards, you should be okay, although you should notify them. I'd get a current eye test to prove to myself and the DVLA that it's fine and they you should be good to go.

[Norm_Leeds]

Thanks for that mate. But what about the lying from day one? That is what I am most worried about. On reflection I should have been honest from the day I was 18 but c'est la vie.

Do you think the test centre is likely to report me?

I need my car license for my job etc etc.

Not to mention I want to ride a bike.

[Bendy]

Naaah they won't report you. It's not something you can have your licence taken away from you for anyway, so at worst I would expect the DVLA to go 'prove you're okay'. But seriously, if the school were happy enough to take you out on the bike they're not going to be running off on some 'oh my god we must get this blind car driver off the road' bender.

If you decide to notify the DVLA now (which I guess you should for insurance reasons if nothing else) then you can always lie if there's a 'when did the condition start' kinda thing... after all, the past is the past and you didn't crash. Or just be honest - you are allowed to drive so there's realistically nothing that's gonna happen.

https://www.dvla.gov.uk/at_a_glance/ch6_visual.htm is the link by the way.

[BigBoss]

You should'nt of left mate, dont let others comments effect you even if it was the instructor - use it to make you want to suceed more.

You have been driving that long and havent had a crash, doesnt that tell yourself something?


Re-take it mate and do your best, you'll kick yourself after wondering why you left in the first place.
____________________
CBR 400 Tri-Arm

[Norm_Leeds]

An off the cuff remark from my tutor for the day didn't help when he said I'm worried about your peripheral vision. At first this really unerved me but I also took exception to the fact that he started to gab to a collegue of his that turned up out of the blue. The topic of conversation was a previous CBT candidate that that had been decapitated on some other course - and a consequent discussion on what was a necessary amount of gore to plant on the candidates.

Anyways this was not my reason for bombing as I did explain later that I worked in a mortuary.

[Norm_Leeds]

Thanks for your comments. I think I will retake it. Expense is not an issue. But I will contact the DVLA. I will also contact a different school.

The shool was not at fault but I think a change of environment would help. On that note they did say that I could retake the road test and finish off my CBT at no extra charge so fair play to them.

But I will find a different 'skool'. If anybody has any recommendations I would be interested. I am in Tingley, Leeds.

Also the fact that my gearbox could never engage neutral didn't help. It is a regular fault on suzukis apparently.

All in all a very shit day out.

[Bendy]

If you've got to ride a bike sans-one eye, you 'chose' the right one! I do a whole lot more looking over my right shoulder than my left.

Go back, have a chat with your instructor, sit on the bike and work out whether there's much point in left hand lifesavers - a good teacher should help you work out a method to accommodate the blind spot you're going to have, be it mirror tweaks or whatever.

[biketeacherda...]

You could just declare the eye problem now the dvla dont keep your paper application on file for ever so they wont have a record of what you did or didnt say when you applied for your licence.

Recently they have upgraded there computer and lost thousands of drivers details so who knows.

Think you need a new instructor, you will do fine with a good right eye as some else said, you look over you right shoulder a lot more, i recently taught a deaf lady, she had some hearing but not much even with the radio ear piece on so we worked out a system for directions, stopped a lot for helmet off talks so she could lip read what i was saying about her riding, took a bit longer to get her ready, passed first time her first instructor had said she should give up and would never ride a bike well let alone pass the test
____________________
www.dgridertraining.co.uk

[ZRX61]

I'd keep quiet about it, then should you be knocked off your bike at some point in the future you can claim that the car driver caused head trauma leading to blindness, might get a tidy pay out

I had to renew my licence a few years ago & they did the eyetest.. ya stand there & start reading the letters on the board... slight prob in that one eye was blurry that day & I couldn't focus
Woman says : Cover one eye & read from the top
I do as she says..... I cover my left eye with my left hand & read the board....
Then she says "now do it again with the other one"
So I cover my left eye with my right hand & read the board again.. she never twigged, but the (now ex) missus was nearby & she had to walk away she was laughing so much...

[tony532]

there isn't an eye test on a cbt

also i think you are a little bit strange from reading your posts


maybe working with dead people has changed you a little for the worst

[Bendy]

[Whitetrash]

[tony532]

just seems a little odd the post about i will find a different 'skool' and the part about the decapitation

something isnt quite right there

[Whitetrash]

Computer Says No
____________________
No body likes me,
Every body hates me,
Think I'll go and eat worms!

[tony532]

computer says man shouldnt be driving on the road after giving false information on licence application

[Andy C]

hey,
just thought that id add that passing you cbt is so easy its untrue!!i went there and they told me about the day before when they had failed all four people and she wasnt lying as one of the guys (was 4 of us) knew 1 of them. however the guy that went out on the final with me and the instructor went thought a red light and turned the wrong turning off a roundabout that the instructor has asked. i went the right way and and so did she and he was off somewhere else.....was quite classic. anyways what im trying to say is that i found it more a training day than a test and think off it as that and not a test, you might find that easier. also what i was showing by saying that all 4 failed the day before was that it was a proper centre and not one that passes everybody and also the instructor was debating whether to pass the guy that i did it with...i dont think i would have!!!hope this helps you!!
____________________
99 RS125 --> 02 SV650s --> 03 Speed Four --> 92 RXS100 --> 93 CB400sf --> 01 CB600f Hornet

[danclarkie]

A guy in my year at school came off his ped on the CBT and still passed, he wrote off his ped a few days later though :S
____________________
Bah Humbug

[harry69koi]

[biggerjohn]

Not a lot I can say that hasn’t been said before.

But you know yourself better then any one else and to me it sounds like you have well developed coping skills for driving and I think you would with the right help develop the right skills for riding.

But if it is any comfort my big brother is all but blind in his left eye (90% loss) and has been riding for 19 years without a problem with the strategies he uses.

And don’t shit yourself about the past ether as you can point to your record and prove your safe and capable driver.

[Norm_Leeds]

[Norm_Leeds]

[tony532]

sorry i apologise

way too much alcohol consumed last night


i thought you were making it all up.

[JonB]

I'm sure that makes it all better, I personally thought the post was bang out of order but meh.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Whitetrash]