DSA stopped licence test

[Fidel castro]

Hi

My daughter was sitting her driving test in our Fiat Punto, she started the test by reverse parking in the DSA compound but the testing officer stopped the test because the Airbag light was on. This was very upsetting for my daughter. The Fiats have a history of airbag lights with the various causes and we had had the fault fised, by fiat, three times. Since the car has been out of warrantee we have ignored the light and taken it to our local garage where it had recently had an MOT, abd passed. I have checked on various web sites and believe that the airbag is not a road worthiness item, but having checked on the DSA website and read their policy:

• "Any electronic warning light that indicates the vehicle is not roadworthy, e.g. airbag
warning light displayed"

Any advice on how to deal with this would be appreciated, or share a similar story.

Many thanks.

[fezzafoo]

Looks like she'll have to hire a learner car if you can't get this fixed, the DSA IMO are very scrict on rules, no leeway at all.

[papercup]

take out the bulb.

[Richard-G]

knowing the high vis jacket'ness of the driving examiners i would say there is nothing you can do, the fact this advice is on thier website is all they will refer too. If it was me, i would remove the bulb, or get creative with a marker pen

[Jonty355]

papercup said:

take out the bulb.

^^^ What he said! If you get it reset again it will only come one again at a bad time like before.

Must be very frustrating though.

[eybic]

It is an MOT fail if the light is on too.

[Engineer1]

Anal but if my job was to get into cars with people who haven't proved they can drive yet in cars they provide I'd be out of there if any warning light came on. Your daughter might be a good driver but some others may not, also if there is a warning light on it makes you question if the car is fully cared for.

Would you go in a car with someone if the Abs light was on? how about the traction control light? or the check engine? The DSA have to have a rule and it is easier to say any warning light and the test is off than leave it to discretion, you know it is a fiat issue for all the tester knows it is a major failure of a safety system. If the manufacturer view it as important enough to put a warning light in for it it must be important.

[PHmember]

eybic said:

It is an MOT fail if the light is on too.

Really? I had a car go through three MOTs with the airbag light on.

[mcford]

eybic said:

It is an MOT fail if the light is on too.

No it is not. The SRS system is not testable, the airbags could have been deployed, pushed back in and the holes taped over, the seat belt pretensioners in the buckles could have gone off and it will only get advised, certainly not failed.

[Snoop Bagg]

Around a tenner to get the light reset by an auto-electrician and what £30+ for a re-test. The DSA have to be anal because in the event your daughter had an accident and she also ignored the warning light, with compensation culture the way it is the DSA could be sued.

[CypherP]

Is using the instructors car not an option? I wouldn't have dreamed of using my first car to pass my test in, given that it was possibly the most basic MKII Fiesta known to man. The 206 Diseasal I used to pass my test was a dream in comparison to the car I spent the first year holding my licence driving!

Why not use the instructors car for the test and if the Punto has passed its test for now, get the airbag problem sorted while she is in the process of passing. A diagnostics check should be able to tell you where the problem area is, should it not? How many air bags does the car have?

[Jonny671]

Sat there just started my test..

Tester - "How do you operate the horn and when would you use it".

Me - "No problem, only use it bla bla.."

• Pushes horn*

Nothing.

For some reason it had just stopped working, was working the hour before my test. My instructor (Whos car it was) came over and started bashing it, checking fuses/wires. The tester said we could have 5 minutes to fix it or it'll be cancelled. During the bashing and hitting it started working and I started the rest of the test.

Was abit of a bad start, but passed 1st time

[10 Pence Short]

Last December I had to apply to Crown Court to get my disqualification lifted early.

On the day of the hearing, which I was assured was a formality, one of the legal guys in Court stood up and told the Judge he didn't have the legal right to do that. I thought my hopes were dashed at the first hurdle. After 30 minutes waiting for him to check out the lawbooks, my disqualification was removed.

Then I sent off to the DVLA for my provisional. Except they sent a letter back saying I was still disqualified and they couldn't deal with me. So I had to go back to the court and get them to fax all the documents to the DVLA and eventually, mid January, I got my Provisional.

Then I went to do my Theory Test. There I was, booked in and sat waiting to go, and the woman at the counter came back with my licence in hand, saying I was still disqualified according to the notes on the licence counterpart. Luckily she accepted my explanation that the ban was removed early, and that the DVLA wouldn't have issued the Provisional had that not happened.

Then I went to the Practical Test Centre in the OH's C1. This was around the time of all the Toyota braking problems. As the Examiner saw the car I intented to use, he frowned and said it might be on the exclusion list due to the brake problems. I had to wait 20 minutes for him to download the affected chassis numbers and check against the car.

I found it unbelievable that at every step, I was just about stopped in my tracks. Sh*t happens, you just have to get on with it.

[plg]

10 Pence Short said:

Then I went to the Practical Test Centre in the OH's C1. This was around the time of all the Toyota braking problems. As the Examiner saw the car I intented to use, he frowned and said it might be on the exclusion list due to the brake problems. I had to wait 20 minutes for him to download the affected chassis numbers and check against the car.

Shocking - so the DSA have a list of cars that they don't deem safe to be on the roads (or for their staff to be in) - but that doesn't apply to the rest of us?

[Soovy]

Try putting her in a car which doesn't have problems next time.

Your/her fault entirely, sorry.

[10 Pence Short]

plg said:

10 Pence Short said:

Then I went to the Practical Test Centre in the OH's C1. This was around the time of all the Toyota braking problems. As the Examiner saw the car I intented to use, he frowned and said it might be on the exclusion list due to the brake problems. I had to wait 20 minutes for him to download the affected chassis numbers and check against the car.

Shocking - so the DSA have a list of cars that they don't deem safe to be on the roads (or for their staff to be in) - but that doesn't apply to the rest of us?

Not in that sense- they have a list of chassis number/models that are under recall at any one time. Depending on the nature of the recall, the DSA must decide that those cars cannot be used unless the recall has been applied.

[H_Kan]

Fidel castro said:

Hi

My daughter was sitting her driving test in our Fiat Punto, she started the test by reverse parking in the DSA compound but the testing officer stopped the test because the Airbag light was on. This was very upsetting for my daughter. The Fiats have a history of airbag lights with the various causes and we had had the fault fised, by fiat, three times. Since the car has been out of warrantee we have ignored the light and taken it to our local garage where it had recently had an MOT, abd passed. I have checked on various web sites and believe that the airbag is not a road worthiness item, but having checked on the DSA website and read their policy:

• "Any electronic warning light that indicates the vehicle is not roadworthy, e.g. airbag
warning light displayed"

Any advice on how to deal with this would be appreciated, or share a similar story.

Many thanks.

Advice is pretty simple- book a retest and make sure the Punto is ok or use the instructors car.

It's not unsurprising they didn't want to commence the test with a warning light on.

[plg]

10 Pence Short said:

plg said:

10 Pence Short said:

Then I went to the Practical Test Centre in the OH's C1. This was around the time of all the Toyota braking problems. As the Examiner saw the car I intented to use, he frowned and said it might be on the exclusion list due to the brake problems. I had to wait 20 minutes for him to download the affected chassis numbers and check against the car.

Shocking - so the DSA have a list of cars that they don't deem safe to be on the roads (or for their staff to be in) - but that doesn't apply to the rest of us?

Not in that sense- they have a list of chassis number/models that are under recall at any one time. Depending on the nature of the recall, the DSA must decide that those cars cannot be used unless the recall has been applied.

Ahh - makes more sense - but still a bit strange - after all, you could turn up in a road legal 1950's Rover with no safety features and be in an approved vehicle in their eyes?

[PeetBee]

plg said:

Ahh - makes more sense - but still a bit strange - after all, you could turn up in a road legal 1950's Rover with no safety features and be in an approved vehicle in their eyes?

Not neccesarily. There was a story fairly recently about a tester refusing to conduct the test on safety grounds as the car wasn't fitted with head rests, IIRC it was an elderly Talbot which was never fitted with them from new.

[neil_bolton]

PHmember said:

eybic said:

It is an MOT fail if the light is on too.

Really? I had a car go through three MOTs with the airbag light on.

I'm the same, my 328 went through with it's airbag light on.