A SCOT who set one of the fastest driving test fails in history by forgetting which side of the road Britain drives on has now passed with flying colours.
Craig Barraza failed within five seconds on his first test, before he’d even left the test centre, after suffering a complete mind blank and driving on the right side.
The hapless 33-year-old made headlines two weeks ago after he took a “50/50 chance” and pulled out of the test centre parking space and into the wrong side of the road.
To make matters even worse, Craig, originally from Portlethen, Aberdeenshire, had to carry on with the remaining 40 minutes of the test, which he drove so well, it would have resulted in a pass.
However, now Craig has finally managed to nail it and passed at the second attempt earlier today.
Writing on Facebook today, Craig said: “Victory #JusticeForKiko
“Shout out to my driving instructor Steve Fletcher also. He probably got a bad rep for me failing two weeks ago, when it had nothing to do with him, and was nothing more than my own stupidity.
“He has been an exceptional instructor, whom I would highly recommend to others locally.
“He has kept me at ease, has been very encouraging, guided me through my lessons superbly, and believed in me the entire time.
“More than that though, he is actually a wonderful man, who I have become very friendly with and will most definitely be meeting up for a couple of pints. Thank you, sir.”
On his first attempt, the examiner had the test centre in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, had asked
Craig: “You do realise you’re on the wrong side of the road?”
Both the examiner and Craig’s instructor, Steve Fletcher, agreed they had seen nothing like it in their combined careers lasting half a century.
Craig, from Portlethen, couldn’t account for his blunder as he has lived all his life in the UK.
The wind farm worker, currently based in the East Anglian market town, had spent in the region of £1,000 on 40 driving lessons and ahead of his initial test, was confident of passing.
Speaking at the time of his first fail, he said: “I was only just leaving the centre to get out. We were literally just five seconds into it.
“I was approaching the junction to exit it and I had an absolute mind blank, questioning in my head: ‘What side of the road do we drive on’?
“I had a 50/50 chance, and I chose to exit it in the right lane. Instant fail. Had I not been so stupid I’d have breezed through.”
“My examiner with 20 years experience, and my instructor with 30 years, both have never witnessed anything like it in their careers, they said. I hadn’t even left the test centre car park.”
After his early moment of madness, Craig went on to commit just two minor errors and would have passed.
However, after initially saying he was “mentally scarred” by the saga and expected to fail again, Craig has managed to put it behind him.
Friends took to Facebook to congratulate him on his efforts.
Hannah Retalic commented: “Haha well done, about time! Just give us a head up before you’re up here driving on the roads.”
Melanie Donald wrote: “Finally! Glad to see you kept to the ‘left’ side of the road this time!”
And Daniel Ross joked: “Anyone want to buy a car? I think I’m gonna take the train from now on.”
