The exam took place on March 23 this year, Thursday morning. Konstantinas took the test in a rented car, he was used to it, so at least at first the driving test went smoothly.
“I was already halfway through the exam. The instructor ordered from Titnago st. turn to Shaltupis Street. So I did. After driving for a while, I heard an instruction to turn left. I made sure that it was safe, that I did not disturb other vehicles, turned on the left turn and turned left on Shaltupis Street (Shaltupis Street itself turns in this direction, so Konstantin did not cross any intersection). Suddenly the examiner stopped the car.
I asked what happened. “Regitras” specialist said that I didn’t stop at the STOP sign,” said Konstantinas Sholomko at the beginning of the incident.
In fact, when driving straight towards the railway crossing, there are two road signs: No. 204. “Stop” and no. 139 “Multi-track railway”. There are no signs when turning left. Thus, there was no STOP line or sign in Konstantin’s trajectory. No intersection sign – just bare asphalt.
Žilvinos Pekarskos / 15min photo/Šaltupio Street in Vilnius and Jankiškių Street next to it, separated by railway
Otherwise, the STOP sign should be on the same street when coming from the other side. Well, in the event that the sign-building authorities would like to ensure that all vehicles driving along this street stop at the railroad and Jankiškių Street, which starts behind it, for traffic safety.
But back to the exam. The driver explained to the examiner that the STOP sign is not relevant for him – after all, he does not drive straight, crossing the crossing (to Jankiškių street), but turns left, on the same Šaltupis street. But it didn’t help.
When both men returned to “Regitra”, K. Sholomko once again asked the examiner: did I really have to stop on Shaltupis Street before turning left? The representative of “Regitras” replied that yes, besides that, there can’t even be any debate.
How to find the truth?
Konstantinas immediately turned to the administration of “Regitras”. He was offered to watch the video of the exam with a specialist from the company. The next day, he went to the “Regitras” branch again to review the record.
“However, Mr. the specialist said that he could not decide if I should have passed the exam or if I had made a critical mistake. He offered to apply to the appeal commission,” says the seeker of justice.
That’s what he did – he wrote a statement. And on March 28 already received a reply that it was decided to “cancel the result of K. Šolomko’s exam and allow the examinee to take the exam for free or return the fee paid for the exam”. In other words, even if it is recognized that the driver was not at fault, he still has to take the test again.
15min also turned to Artūras Pakėnas, the head of the driving school “AmpliusLT” – maybe he sees this situation differently, if the examiner has already seen a critical error? However, A. Pakėnas’s comment was short – there is no basis for a critical error here. In other words, he agreed with the opinion of the Appellate Commission that there is no doubt that the STOP sign is installed specifically for those who drive straight through the railway crossing. It is not valid when turning left.
Who will be responsible for the error and compensate for the lost time?
K. Sholomko is happy to have proved that he was right and did not make a critical mistake during the exam. But everything else does not make him very happy. Why, if “Regitra” admits that it unreasonably (ie due to the mistake of the examiner) did not pass the exam, now Konstantin (as well as others who won the appeals) must take the exam again? After all, it was not his fault that such a situation arose.
“I’m wasting my time, and I also had expenses for renting a car for the exam (about 65 EUR – post-ed.). However, Regitra is only refunding me the money I paid for the exam they canceled. It turns out that it is not the examiner, but me who is to blame for failing the exam, so I will have to retake it?” asks Konstantinas, adding that this situation has arisen because no one takes responsibility for the mistake.
No one is responsible for Registry error…
“Official reprimand or some other punishment? Why is there no prevention of such cases? This creates conditions for abuse of their position, and the examinees are certainly not to blame for this. On the contrary, if they fail once, later they already have moral complexes and want to pass, – teaches K. Šolomko. – And I will feel moral pressure and the fear of making a mistake when I go to the store for the second time.
There should not be such situations in Lithuania when people who are ready for the exam fail one, two or three times. Such a situation leads to corruption”, concluded K. Šolomko.
VIDEO: Appeal to “Regitrai”: Konstantinas Sholomko proved his truth that he did not make a critical mistake during the driving test
Comment from “Regitra”.
Justina Kazragytė, press representative of “Regitras”. 15min informed that 185 appeals were received last year. 17 of them were satisfied (that is, negative exam results were annulled). She explained the company’s position regarding the situation K. Šolomko found himself in.
“In the initial assessment, an error occurred during the evaluation of the exam due to the human factor, so we apologize to the client for all the inconveniences he had to experience.
We always encourage our customers to contact us immediately if they have any questions – we have made it possible to receive answers to all questions individually, even in several stages.
First, after the exam, the examiner provides feedback, discusses the mistakes made and what skills should be improved. If the discussed result is not agreed with, the situation can be assessed impartially by the Appeals Commission, which can make a decision to cancel the exam result, offer the client another convenient exam date and/or return the money paid for the exam.
We point out that in all cases we aim to make such a decision that would protect the client’s interests and at the same time help ensure that only well-prepared drivers enter the traffic,” commented J. Kazragytė.
When asked why a positive exam result is simply not read (after all, there was no critical error), J. Kazragytė repeated that all this is to ensure that only well-prepared drivers get on the road.
And the examiner? 15min as far as we know, he still sticks to his version that the mistake was made by K. Sholomko, not him, the specialist.
“Regarding the error that occurred due to the human factor, steps are always taken to prevent similar situations from occurring again – trainings are organized for employees, knowledge updates, etc.,” – this is the official comment of “Registra”.
