Brits have been left divided over footage of a learner driver apparently failing their test after encountering pedestrians in the street.
Drivers in the UK will be all too familiar with the theory test you have to pass before getting behind the wheel for the practical test, with the virtual and written experience designed to ensure you can spot hazards and recognise the signs, markings and rules of the road.
Having presumably passed their theory test, the driver in this particular video could be seen driving down a road and encountering three pedestrians on an island in the centre.
Posted on TikTok by @2daypass, a company that offers intensive driving lessons, the video shows the driver being forced to come to a stop when the pedestrians appeared to step into their lane – a move that the instructor claimed resulted in a 'driving test [fail]'.
However, the crossing seen in the video has prompted TikTok users to disagree with the test result, arguing that the driver wasn't in the wrong for continuing to drive forward when they saw the pedestrians.
One person who disagreed with the instructor wrote: "This instructor/examiner definitely needs to be re-evaluated. They were not stepping forward at all and you don't give way at islands."
Another commented: "Not a fail! If they walked in front of the vehicle that’s not the drivers fault ! Just examiners on their high horse as usual!"
The instructor appeared to defend their decision by explaining the driver failed to adhere to a 'new highway code'; a comment that apparently relates to a change in the law that states drivers must give way to pedestrians crossing at a junction.
Per Adhere Law, the rule explains: "Drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists and horse riders now must give way to [pedestrians] when they are crossing or waiting to cross a road into which or from which the traffic is turning."
However, TikTok users have argued that because the driver was not at a junction when the incident took place, the law should not have applied in this particular case.
One viewer wrote: "Wow that instructor needs to read the Highway code again... pedestrians now have priority at JUNCTIONS. Not the middle of a major road."
The crossing seen in the clip does not appear to be a 'controlled crossing point' as described by the Highway Code. In this situation, the code advises pedestrians to cross where there is 'an island in the middle of the road', explaining: "Use the Green Cross Code to cross to the island and then stop and use it again to cross the second half of the road."
The Green Cross Code tells pedestrians to let traffic pass if it is coming, and not to cross 'until there is a safe gap in the traffic and you are certain that there is plenty of time'.
Emily Brown