Going for driving test any tips?


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man that sucks, Do you mind explaining what a lorry is (live in the states)?

I took my driving test, and I was really nervous, I ended up passing, but it was a simple circle around some side streets (that I was familiar with), anything more there was good chance I possibly would have failed. I drive 20min to school everyday without a problem, I just did a terrible job controlling my stress / nervousness.

@Game - I usually try to glance every once in while a the speedometer. If I find my self going fast I'll let go of the gas (obvious) and if it like 5 over I'll just cost, till I get back to the limit, or I'll slowly apply the brakes until I get back to the limit. But usually when accelerating I just watch the speedometer. When I got out to school the speed limit is 45->35->25 all within like 5-8 minutes, so I find it extremely hard to stay a 25mph in the 25mph zone, I easily get back up to 35

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Since I live in one county and my school is in another, the Freeway ( the 118 btw) has no cops on it, so speeding isn't a big issue for me. I DO find that i get there just as fast if im going 65 compared to 80.

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First off: don't let the nervousness get to you. I mean, it's normal to get nervous, but try not to; there's not really any reason TO be nervous.

Follow the speed, try to stay as close as the speed limit as possible.

Make sure you glance at your mirrors often.

And one thing I got dinged on my driving test was that the instructor claimed I wasn't turning my head enough for a blind spot check when I could clearly see :wacko: . So make sure to really exagerate when you look, like.. stretch your head a lil further than you normally would - depends on the instructor, but like I said, I got dinged for it.

Oh, and make sure you do that 10 & 2 hand thing, lol.

Good luck :) Hope these help a lil.

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  • 1 month later...

Right, the big day is almost here. My test is tomorrow at 10:24am, and I need some tips on how to remain calm and focused.

I'm already so nervous, and when I get nervous I usually end up with a string of mistakes!! :/

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- Maintain a constant speed near speed limit. Don't go over. Don't go too far under either, -1-2km/h is nice.

- Stop at stop signs, etc for a full stop (~2-3 seconds). Sloooow down for yields.

- Look in mirrors often, make it uber obvious especially for shoulder checks. Don't overdo it, make it LOOK natural enough.

- For right turns (Left turns in UK?) stop before you turn.

- Stop before pedestrian walkways, and stop again before you enter the road out of a driveway. Stop before the lines (Traffic, etc). Your front bumper is to be behind the line.

- Look out for places where you need to slow down or change of speed limit.

- If you do something wrong, don't try to reverse it. If you run past a line or something at a traffic light a bit, DON'T TRY TO REVERSE BACK. Just leave it as that if it's not so bad. You won't fail if you make this mistake once or twice. Reversing, probably will.

- Cover the brakes when approaching a traffic light. Don't try to run a yellow light. You do this only when you have a license. :p

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Always shoulder check, even when not needed. I failed the first time I took it because I used the mirrors instead of shoulder checking...even when checking wasn't required! Apparently mirrors are only for parking...gotta love the bureaucracy.

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Well... I failed on what was, on the whole, an otherwise perfect drive (with a very good examiner).

I was approaching towards a roundabout that I was unfamiliar with in the left lane and he asked me to turn right. There was traffic in the right lane beside me so I was unable to move across and as a result I ended up waiting in the left lane for a clear gap in the roundabout.

He told me that this became a major not because of my positioning, but the fact that I missed an initial gap and thus from there a queue formed behind me of drivers wishing to turn right.

A stupid mistake I easily could have avoided. I'm so frustrated.

It's cost me ?98.50 plus 5 or so additional lessons.:angry::

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Well... I failed on what was, on the whole, an otherwise perfect drive (with a very good examiner).

I was approaching towards a roundabout that I was unfamiliar with in the left lane and he asked me to turn right. There was traffic in the right lane beside me so I was unable to move across and as a result I ended up waiting in the left lane for a clear gap in the roundabout.

He told me that this became a major not because of my positioning, but the fact that I missed an initial gap and thus from there a queue formed behind me of drivers wishing to turn right.

A stupid mistake I easily could have avoided. I'm so frustrated.

It's cost me ?98.50 plus 5 or so additional lessons.:angry::

Seem to fail people on owt these days. Saying that I only did my test a year ago, it seems to be much stricter now. Had you never been taken on that particular test route before? Seems a shame if not...

I don't think you could have really won in your situation as if you miss the first gap you have to slow to get in the right lane which can be a pain, and you have to cause traffic to slow down giving you a major!:((

And to top it off, you cant get your foot down and do what they would call "cutting in" to make life easier, because the gap has to be twice as big of the car to be valid or something like that.

Ah well, I never passed first time, It's a killer before passing with the money, and it doesn't help much when you pass. Not when petrol is currently 99.9p and Your filling up ?20 a week, and paying for car maintenance AND tax/insurance.

Fun Fun Fun.

At least when you pass you can go a bit crackers. (with the driving)

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  • 1 month later...
Don't drive to slowly, because, you know, "if you're driving 5 under the limit, the guy behind you is driving 10 under the limit, and the guy behind him is driving 15 under the limit."

Yes, that is an exact quote from the DMV guy who failed me on my first drivers test, that being the reason for failing me.

Makes ya wonder, huh.

-Spenser

turn off your cell phone and radio.....

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For stateside drivers, i've always found these to help people.

Before you go take your driving test, make sure that your car's lights work or you will automatically fail, remember your hand signals and the basic ergo buttons on your car, like the AC, turn signal switch, light switch, rear de-frost, front window ventilation, e-brake, horn, and emergency lights.

Every driving test area will always have one intersection with a "No Right Turn on Red", remember to look out for the signs.

There will also be an area where there is a 4-way stop sign, it's first come first serve, if you and the vehicle opposite reach the line at the same time, it's their right of way if they are indicating a turn.

Remember to stop behind the limit lines, it is the easiest mistake to commit.

Finally, just relax, and remember to move your head around a little bit to SHOW that you're looking, moving your eye balls will not cut it for you.

You guys can right turn on a red light? Damnit, why can't Belgium have that?

As for driving tests I can't stress it enough. Stay calm and drive as you would any day. However don't be too self assured because that will result in making faults and thus failing.

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I don't have any tips to give that others haven't already covered.

But I can relate an experience I had at the end of my driving test. They had a designated parking spot that I was supposed to pull into at the end of the test. Apparantly someone else had decided to park there even though it was designated with a sign. So the instructor told me to pull into the next available parking spot, which was handicapped designated and just so happens the car behind me (which had a handicapped license plate) was signaling to pull into that handicapped spot, so I made a judgement call and passed the spot and parked in a spot a bit further down. The tester marked me down enough (for not following instructions) that I would've failed the test, until I pointed out that the driver of the car behind me was handicapped, and the spot she had pointed out for me to park in was the only empty handicapped spot available. She was still furious that I didn't follow her exact instructions, but she said that I had made a good judgement call. She took away the marked down score and passed me in the end after a bit of a discussion with her about it.

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There are no tips to give. There are just two factors:

- The drivers around you

- The examiners mood

It's complete luck if you pass or not.

Don't worry. You may have the happiest examinator and the best people around you, if you can't drive you fail. You do have to be able to parallel park and other things.

If halfway through you know you're going to fail....

Punch it and go like 120mph and run every light and sign. Might as well have fun.

You could try and gain a big chance of being suspended from the examination station.

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If halfway through you know you're going to fail....

Punch it and go like 120mph and run every light and sign. Might as well have fun.

:laugh:

Then at the end he tells you you've passed. :shifty:

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:laugh:

Then at the end he tells you you've passed. :shifty:

Well, it really does depend on the examiner's mood... :p

When you do that, make sure you have something nice to drive, eg. a GT-R :p

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I failed because I went 2 mph over the speed limit. I was going downhill on a shaky road residential road that had a 25 mph posted limit. I was driving in an 82 Camaro that had a bouncy needle. In short, I had my foot on the brake and the needle was literally bouncing between 22 and 27 mph so she failed me.

I never realized that until I took the test, seeing as I don't worry about going a few mph over the posted limit. But she told me "you went above the posted limit, which is quite simply - breaking the law". So the advice I can give is to make sure you don't speed. Going slower isn't against the law, but speeding is.

Yes, going too slow isn't great either, but they are looking to see that you are close to posted limits without exceeding them because it shows you are paying attention to your speed, as well as the road. Makes sense ;)

Someone told me to tell the instructor to buckle up if I noticed them not buckling up. So...I fasten my seatbelt and then I see her just sitting there. I was like "can you please buckle up?" and she just said "nope". I'm thinking to myself...what the hell is going on? So I simply ask, "why not?"

"We don't fasten our seatbelts in case we need to quickly exit the vehicle" she says...

"Even if it's moving?" I inquired.

"Yes, it's for our safety, you don't need to know anything more", she snaps back to me.

So I just kept my mouth shut and failed my test :p

Don't worry, all awesome drivers fail the first test and then pass on the 2nd :laugh:

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ha great news im starting lessons sooon doing the crash course thing where its like 3 days full of learning and then couple of weeks after i hsould be taking test hopefully :)

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I remember my driving test... I woke up at like 5 am and I sat on my couch in the dark and practiced all the motions... haha. All the exagerations, the 10&2 on the steering wheel, the seatbelt+mirror adjustments. The little rules for parallel parking.

Next thing I know, I am pulled over and the examiner is handing me a tiny sheet that is my temporary license. lol

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I'm pretty good at normal driving my only problem-causers could be parallel parking and/or reverse stall parking.

Do you guys have any tips for going to your driving test? :D

Thanks :D

Well since your location says "unknown" I'm going to assume you're in the US (like i am). to be honest I didnt even practice at all for my driving test....I got up that morning, drove there around 7:30, took the test at 8am....

very straight forward, got in the car and checked the turn signals and break lights. Then I adjusted my mirrors, put my seat belt on, and then started the car. we went out the parking lot and basically just around a few blocks, stopped and did parallel parking, continued driving and did some turns that would head us back to the BMV and it was over.

tips: RELAX and stay calm.

If you mess up don't swear/get upset/sigh/anything to act bothered by it.

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