State driving testers will usually not advise you on what you did not do correctly. They will simply observe and mark points off during the course of the test. I don't ever recall seeing anything during my driving tests. (although I've passed any of the ones I've taken) I believe they do this in order to encourage you to learn and follow ALL the rules of the road, rather than just select rules of opportunity.
I'd imagine that with driving instructors, things can be different depending upon the instructor and school. Probably also depends upon whether the student is still in the 'instructing' or 'testing' stage. (which he/she may have been in the latter) For the most part, during the testing phase, they'll let minor infractions go unless they're causing a disturbance, such as cutting-off
.... "I think probably the students are at such a point in their development that a stern lecture would have been devastating," .....
The whole incident is an anomoly. I don't see it as a big deal one way or another.
