Who am I, and why am I doing this?

Thousands of euros, two failed attempts, and one question: what exactly does the examiner want from me?

“Not confident enough.” Okay. Next time — “too confident.” Is there an instruction manual for the bit in between?

I kept hearing the same thing from friends and people I knew. Especially those who already drove and had a licence in their home country. It’s not your first time behind the wheel. So why is this so difficult?

I wasted thousands of euros — partly because I didn’t know better, and partly because I didn’t always meet people who cared about my results, not my money. At some point, I decided: enough. I’ll figure this out myself.

I started going through road situations and the CBR requirements in detail. Where to look, when to look, what you need to notice, and when you can act. What confident driving actually means. And where confidence turns into risk.

Observation alone is quite a job. Mirrors, shoulder check, eyes forward again — and preferably keep driving the car while you’re at it.

It helped me. It helped my friends. So I thought: why not put it all together and help other people save money, time, and nerves?

That’s how Driving Test Decoder started.

This isn’t another theory book. You’ve probably learnt the signs already. Here, we work through the practical exam: what the examiner assesses, which mistakes get in the way, and what to do about them behind the wheel.

And there’s more to come. I’m now working on a practical-exam trainer, so you can work through situations and practise choosing your next action between lessons with your instructor.

All materials have been cross-checked against official CBR documents. DTD is an independent project.

I created it because I wanted a clear answer to a simple question myself: what exactly do I need to do to prepare for this exam?