DSA test centre at Chamberlain Road, Hull

Chamberlain Road Test Centre, Hull
Site map : Dash : Instructors : Learners area : Tutorials : Forum : Pass Plus : Book shop : Contact us : Dash news : Links This page will be of interest to those taking their driving test at the DSA test centre, Chamberlain Rd, Hull. We will be bringing our friends from West Hull a page dedicated to the test centre at Hessle in the near future. Thanks for all your e-mails . . . no, I haven't forgotten you! The page has quite a few photo's and is very ‘image intensive' . . . it may take a short while to download if you are on a dial up connection. Please be patient. The Test Centre I firmly believe that a lot of test nerves are caused by a fear of the unknown. You have no idea of where you're going to take your test and the thought of the test centre waiting room conjures up images of waiting for the dentist! Why not look at this page to get a first impression of the test centre and then pay the place a visit? You don't have to go with your instructor. You could go alone or with a friend. I'm sure that most instructors, like ourselves, regularly drive on and off the test centre car park with pupils. But how many take the time to actually go inside to the waiting room? Once you've been, a lot of the mystery disappears and the place really doesn't seem that scarey. It could be 5 minutes of your time well spent. The first thing you notice as you drive into the test centre car park are the very well marked yellow parking bays . . . these are the bays that you park your vehicle in on your test day whilst you wait for the examiner. They are also the bays that the examiner may ask you to reverse park into whilst you are on your test. You will sometimes see that there are cones placed around the outer edges of the bays to clearly highlight those to be used by test candidates. It's important that you realise that the full car park is not owned by the DSA . . . there are several other business units operating from the same buildings and they, too, have full access to the car park. Only the bays marked in yellow are designated to be used by test candidates and examiners. Please, therefore, do not try to use the other bays for pactice. Most instructors are aware of this and fully comply with the rules of the car park . . . the time to be wary is when you go to the test centre with a friend or relative for some private practice. You have been warned . . . don't get into trouble before your test! The other major landmark at the test centre is the huge ‘Bizspace' sign near to the car park exit. More about this sign later . . . You enter the test centre via a side door which is j u st through the arch next to the ‘Bizspace' sign. The waiting area is up the stairs which are now to your left. At the top of the stairs you will find the waiting room straight ahead. The examiners work from an office which is through the double doors to your left. DO NOT disturb the examiners in the office unless absolutely necessary, it's not really good manners. By the way, should you need the loo, you'll find one through these double doors and down the corridor which is on your immediate right! On test day you'll usually see several other candidates waiting for the examiners, all looking as nervous as you, and they will usually have their instructors with them.

When the examiner has arrived and checked your paperwork, it's off to the car park for the show me, tell me questions, and then into the vehicle to start the test proper. As you can imagine, when there's a few candidates on test at the same time the car park becomes a pretty busy area. Once your test is under way and the car is moving (did you do the cockpit drill?) you'll need to negotiate your way out of the car park.

There are traps here for the unwary! Here we see from the drivers seat as we approach the very first exit from the car park . . . this leads us onto a very busy service road that all the nearby business premises have access to. We have to emerge right here and then follow the service road out and emerge again onto Chamberlain Road itself. The main danger with this first emerge is that huge ‘Bizspace' sign mentioned earlier. It is a real obstruction to your view . . . if you can't see when emerging due to restricted vision, what should you do? Well, you will need to emerge from here in first gear at an absolute crawling pace. I mean literally slower than walking. The slower you keep the car moving and the more observations you make, the less likely you are to be surprised by a delivery van zooming by. You have to LOOK BOTH WAYS, not just to the left, so get the car moving slowly and keep your head moving left and right very quickly. You may have to leen forward in your seat whilst looking left and right to improve your view. There is nothing wrong with this at all. After all, if you don't know it's safe you shouldn't emerge. Remember, safety is paramount. Nothing about your drive is more important. The routine to use is commonly called ‘peep and creep'. You cannot get enough practice at doing the ‘peep and creep' routine, it's so useful and important in everyday driving. Most experienced drivers do it without even thinking about it. Why not get some private practice with a friend or relative? You could go to the test centre car park a few times and practice this emerge. Whatever you do, please respect the needs of others . . . don't go on to the car park at test times and don't block the car park up when other vehicles are trying to get in and out. Look at the rest of the sequence of photographs below to get a ‘feel' for emerging onto the service road and out onto Chamberlain Road.








Now you can concentrate on the rest of your driving test! The very best of luck. Call Dash on Hull 803638

Chamberlain Road Test Centre, Hull