Judging whether a hormonal teenager is capable of controlling a one-tonne metal box is beset with danger, and not just from the clumsiness of their oversized feet on the pedals.
Last year, apparently 209 examiners reported being verbally assaulted by candidates after the tension (or presumably news of a poor result) became too much to bear with good grace. Five even suffered physical assaults.
A freedom of information request by Autoglass obtained the figures and also shows that over 300 learners and examiners were injured during the 1.5m driving tests taken in 2010.
147 of those were considered serious and required treatment by a doctor, while 192 were considered minor enough to be remedied with first aid.
Either way, we're fairly sure causing your examiner physical pain is guaranteed way of failing the test, and sure enough more than a million "dangerous" errors were made by candidates last year.
Poor observation and use of mirrors topped the list of common mistakes, and contributed to an overall pass rate of just 46.3 percent.
It means that 362,923 earned the right to remove their L plates and take to the road in 2010. Let's just hope the examiners' suffering and sacrifice weeded out all the unsafe ones.