G2 misery

[suzuki2000]

Wife called to tell me that our daughter went to do her G2 test today. Got there and the tester checked the lights on the car. Apparently she had a brake light out so the tester cancelled her test. She will now need to re-book.

only one light out, unknown to my wife or I, neither of us is typically behind the car....so never thought to check. I wish they would have given some leniency

$1.00 bulb ruins a day.

lesson learned for our daughter, .... do the circle check before hand. We all know its unlikley in real world application, but it is small insurance when your being looked at under a microscope.

[geoff-9]

i dont know about that car but in my car the signals are the same bulb as the brake light so if that is the case i would say it is fair as you need signals for the test. if it was just a brake light i would say that was unfair.

[2live&ride]

i dont know about that car but in my car the signals are the same bulb as the brake light so if that is the case i would say it is fair as you need signals for the test. if it was just a brake light i would say that was unfair.

that wouldn't work because you need your signals to be working for the test as well...
no big deal, just put the bulb and have her reschedule, it's an unecessary set back but what can you do?

[CrazyKell]

I check my lights all the time.

Just because you didn't check doesn't mean it's unlikely or unreasonable.

I agree it's a bummer though. Is it a long wait to reschedule?

[Aslan]

I check my lights all the time.

I check my lights more often than I care to calculate, I just pay attention to reflective bumpers, dark walls and the like till I see something amiss.

[icecube172]

don't want to sound mean, but before you send your daughter to the test you (or her) should've done the vehicle check ahead of time.

[suzuki2000]

don't want to sound mean, but before you send your daughter to the test you (or her) should've done the vehicle check ahead of time.

not mean at all as I noted lesson learned, do a circle check (lights etc..) I guess I (we) like most people probably take for granted that all is good. I was long gone to work when she had her test, so I would not have been able to do it. Really as a newe driver it would be her responsibility anyway.

It's funny I check my bike lights regularly, but don't show the same consideration with a car.

[Biker32]

Good Lesson learned for all!
Especially a new driver, maybe she'll remember this and continue the practice.

[Red Zeder]

Most people don't check their lites.
Brake lites are even harder to check (2 people or one snow brush jammed into the seat and pedal are required).

If I notice another car has a lite issue, and I get an oppurtuinty, I'll let them know. They always thank me !
Heck ..I even sometimes let them know their turn signals aren't working (when i'm pretty sure they're just too damn lazy to use them).

[Agent13]

This happen to my neighbour when his daughter went for her G road test. He warned me about it & I made sure the car was checked out before the test. My kid had the misfortune of having a driver`s exam the day before they went on strike last year, examiner was totally unprofessional with her to say the least & failed her. The problem was my kid was trying to merge onto hwy401 with a slow moving TT in front of her with it`s lights flashing, it was also raining hard & traffic was heavy. Examiner was yelling at her to get out & around the TT on the ramp even though traffic was heavy & in her opinion she could not see & they were well below 100k. So she failed her. On the upside, after the strike was over the next test she passed without issue. My kid is a good driver & even my neighbour took her out & said the same thing, he worked for Drive Test for years. I have no respect for this kind of crap, I would not have let my kid go for her G if I didn`t think she was ready.

[CruisnGrrl]

on many vehicles the hazard and brake lights are the same.

[Wargoose]

Most people don't check their lites.
Brake lites are even harder to check (2 people or one snow brush jammed into the seat and pedal are required).

Back your vehicle up to anywhere that has a large glass frontage (e.g. every strip mall in the province) and look in your mirror at the reflection of your car while you check the function of your brake lights and turn signals.

[suzuki2000]

Most people don't check their lites.
Brake lites are even harder to check (2 people or one snow brush jammed into the seat and pedal are required).

If I notice another car has a lite issue, and I get an oppurtuinty, I'll let them know. They always thank me !
Heck ..I even sometimes let them know their turn signals aren't working (when i'm pretty sure they're just too damn lazy to use them).

Interesting update,

when I got home we checked the lights. all brake lights and other were working. Spoke to a friend who saw my qwifes car just prior to the test and she said she remembers the lights working... So now can't say for sure if there was an issue or the tester was full of crap.

We asked our daughter if she checked what he noted as the issue, turns out she did not.

don't beleive there is a short, but it would be a he said/she said issue now...

$40 out of pocket for the test, $20 to rebook and another few weeks...

this was at an independent testing location, wonder if this was just a money maker??

[Aslan]

Interesting update,

when I got home we checked the lights. all brake lights and other were working.

this was at an independent testing location, wonder if this was just a money maker??

They all are, but I'm not sure independent is the right word. Management of the Centres was outsourced to Serco in 2003 for till 2013.

1) Q: What or who is DriveTest?

A: The Driver Examination Centres formerly managed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation have been renamed DriveTest and is operated by Serco DES Inc. under a 10 year licence agreement with MTO.

I wouldn't bet on it being a money maker but the examiner might have earned themselves a break.

The MTO website likes to tout the 87% customer satisfaction rating for these places, I say that's a lot of unhappy 'customers'.

[LoneRonin]

when I went to go do my M1 exit test a similar thing happened. There was a dude on a Hyo Gt250r, who looked like he shouldn't be anywhere near a bike. He looked all nervous while we were doing test runs through the slalom course, but we convinced him to try it atleast once, for his own good before doing it the first time in front of the examiner. Buddy dumped his bike on the first turn...broke his lest turn signal. When the examiner got there he didn't let the guy do his test.

[caboose483]

Back your vehicle up to anywhere that has a large glass frontage (e.g. every strip mall in the province) and look in your mirror at the reflection of your car while you check the function of your brake lights and turn signals.

This.

Further, a lot of vehicles have the same bulb for turn signals and brake lights. If one of my turn signals was out, the flash rate would be off. I'm not sure if/how this applies to fancy new cars with LED lights but it's still valid for my Edge. I still do a walkaround about once a month to make sure all lights work.