I’ve had my driving test cancelled 11 TIMES in 18 months – it’s so unfair
A KEEN learner has had her driving test cancelled 11 TIMES in 18 months despite feeling that she is ready to pass.
Poppy Evans, 19, is eager to tear up her learner plates but she's stuck in the red tape logjam of test cancellations thanks to testers getting Covid.
She was 17 years old and ready to pass when her nightmare began.
Poppy has suffered 11 cancellations due to examiners falling ill and each time has had to reapply, often waiting weeks before securing another slot - only to see that vanish too.
Fed up with failing to take a test at any of the centres close to her home near Watlington, Oxfordshire, she made a 120-mile round trip to Winchester.
But that test was cancelled minutes after she pulled up in the car park.
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Poppy, who drives a blue VW Golf, told the that she blames the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency and their "incompetence."
She said: "It all started as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and everyone was in the same situation so I couldn't really complain.
"There was a massive backlog of tests due to the lockdowns and people just couldn't book one.
"I was initially fine with the cancellations but I keep getting this bad luck and now I am getting really frustrated.
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"I had to cancel one of the tests myself because I had Covid, then I was supposed to have one in February but Storm Eunice happened so that was also cancelled."
She first began booking tests in Reading, Oxford or Newbury in 2020 but when the dates came and went, she decided to go further afield in the hope of more luck.
Poppy added: "After I couldn't get a test at the places near me I booked one in Winchester.
"It took us two hours to get all the way down there so we left at about 5.30am to make sure we were there by 8am.
"When we parked up, an instructor came out of the building and said that they were sorry but they had to cancel it due to illness.
"I didn't even receive a text to tell me that it wouldn't be going ahead.
"I asked the guy if I would now be going to the back of the queue for a test and he said 'no, no, no' but as I was driving home I got a text to say my next test would be weeks later in June."
She passed her theory test in September 2020 and will have to take it again if she doesn't pass her practical test after the two-year time limit.
Feeling as if she should be put first, Poppy added: "I do feel that the DVSA should be looking at my past history and see all my test cancellations but I keep getting put to the back of the queue.
TESTING TIMES
"I feel I should be put first.
"I know lots of people have had problems with the DVSA in terms of cancellations but nobody seems to have had it as bad as I have.
"I have had to wait months and months to take a test and each time I can't take a test I have had to wait longer - it is just so unfair."
The teen said that not being able to take her test is holding her back - as she can't get a job far away because she can't drive herself there.
She lives in a rural area, and was also forced to pay for taxis to go to and from college for a year.
Poppy added: "Once I pass my test I want to get another job. I just want to get out there rather than having to rely on friends or taxis."
Despite still waiting for her driving license, Poppy has held a tractor licence since she was 16.
She added: "I have driven the tractor on the roads and I have good awareness. Tractors are quite big but you still need to do the right things like looking ahead and having good awareness."
Loveday Ryder, chief executive of the Driving and Vehicle Standards Agency, said "The pandemic has led to a high demand for driving tests and we are doing all we can to provide more tests so we can get our services back to normal as soon as possible.
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"Candidates who unfortunately have had their tests cancelled are offered the first available test in their area.
"We are sorry for the inconvenience caused as a result of the current high demand for tests."
