Tips for Passing Your Driving Test
Make complete stops just before the front of your vehicle reaches the stop sign or white stop line. After stopping, pull forward slowly until you have adequate visibility to the right and left to proceed safely through the intersection. (If stopping at a red light, be sure to stay behind the white line until the light turns green – unless you are making a "right on red" – see below.)
Watch your speed!
Stay a few mph below the speed limit so that you don't accidentally go over. Remember that on residential streets where the speed limit is not posted you can assume it is 30 mph.
Watch for speed limit changes! When a new speed limit sign indicates a reduction of the speed limit, you must reduce your speed to the new limit before passing the sign.
Watch for active school zones! If the yellow lights are flashing, you must reduce your speed to the school zone limit (usually 20 mph) before entering the school zone (usually indicated by a white line across the street and a "School Zone" sign).
Additional note on speed: There are various situations where it is not safe to go at the full legal speed limit, for example, on narrow neighborhood streets where there are a lot of parked cars, where a pedestrian is walking in the street because there is no sidewalk, where you see children playing anywhere nearby or animals running around, where visibility is limited because of a curve, etc. Always think about what would happen if a child ran out from between those parked SUVs, or if that pedestrian with no sidewalk tripped and fell, or that off-leash dog ran out in front of you — and adjust your speed accordingly.
When turning left onto a neighborhood street or other two-lane road, be sure to make your turn wide enough that a large vehicle (think school bus) coming out of the street you are turning into can make a right turn at the same time. Failure to leave enough room for a car coming from your left to turn right at the same time you are turning left is enough to fail you on your driving test all by itself!
When driving on a narrow neighborhood street, be sure to move all the way to the right as you approach a stop sign so that you leave plenty of room for a large vehicle (again think school bus) coming from your left to make a right turn at the intersection while you are stopped.
Remember to look right and left as you approach any intersection, even if you have a green light or don't have a stop sign. (This is defensive driving: you are looking for that car that is speeding toward the intersection about to run the light or the stop sign. You are trying to avoid an accident even if it would have been someone else's fault!) Turn your head to the right and left so that the examiner will know that you are looking, because they won't be looking at your eyes. There are more points on the test for "observation" than for any other category.
As you approach an intersection with a green light, slow down enough that you will be able to stop safely and comfortably if the light turns yellow. If you are proceeding straight through the intersection, just ease up on the gas as you approach in order to drop your speed about 5 mph below the limit. If you will be turning at the intersection, start braking early enough that you can come to a complete stop safely and comfortably if the light turns yellow before you enter. If the light turns yellow when you are so close to the intersection that you would have to make an abrupt stop, it is usually better to proceed through the intersection (especially if a car is following close behind you!).
When turning onto a multi-lane road, turn into the closest lane going in your direction. So if you make a right turn, turn to the rightmost lane; if you make a left turn, turn to the leftmost lane.
When making a left turn onto a multi-lane street, you must turn after the yellow line or median! (Remember that white lines divide traffic going in the same direction, so if you turn left after just a white line or lines, you are going the WRONG WAY!)
Put on your turn signal roughly 100 feet (one third of a football field) before your turn. Be sure to not put it on so early that someone might think you are turning at an earlier place than you are intending — and possibly pull out in front of you!
When you make a lane change, check your mirrors first, then put on your turn signal, and finally check your blind spot (looking sideways and a bit backwards over your shoulder) before moving into the new lane. If asked to move over two lanes, pause after you have moved over one lane (leaving your signal on), check your blind spot again, and then move over into your destination lane. Be careful to not move over too quickly. Remember to turn off your turn signal promptly when you have completed your lane change. (To learn how to adjust your side mirrors correctly for the safest lane changes, watch this short video.)
When making a left turn, remember you must always yield to oncoming traffic unless you are at a light with a left-pointing green arrow (yes, you must yield even if you have a regular/round green light!).
If you make a "right on red," remember to treat it like a stop sign. Check for a "No turn on Red" sign before proceeding. To complete this maneuver safely and legally, you must make a complete stop and then yield to pedestrians and all streams of traffic (traffic approaching from your left, traffic coming straight toward you from the other side of the intersection making a left turn in front of you, and traffic coming from your right and making a U-turn). Remember that "right on red" is optional. You may wait for the light to turn green if you prefer, and should wait for the light to turn green if you have even the slightest doubt as to whether you have a big enough gap in traffic to make your right turn safely. As usual, you will want the two lanes closest to you to be clear of traffic before you make your right turn.
At a Yield sign you are not required to stop, but must yield to pedestrians and all three streams of traffic as mentioned above. Depending upon how much traffic there is and how good your visibility is to the left, you may well need to stop first in order to proceed through safely.
Avoid unnecessary stops. If you have right-of-way and no one is doing anything dangerous or illegal (like running a red light or a stop sign and so posing a threat to you), keep moving through the intersection or through your turn. If you don't have right-of-way but there is no traffic to yield to, keep moving through the intersection or through your turn -- unless you have a red light or a stop sign!
Parallel Parking Tips:
Remember to use your right turn signal as you approach the parking poles, and your left signal as you pull out from between them.
Look forward when you are going forward, backward (or at the backup cam, if your examiner permits it) when you are reversing, and be sure to check your mirrors and look over your left shoulder before you pull out of the parking space.
It's better to aim to be a bit too far from the curb rather than trying to get close and then ending up hitting it or having to do multiple maneuvers to fix your position. Take your best first shot, and put it in park when you are done (hopefully reasonably well centered between the poles, and parallel to the curb), even if you end up a bit far away from the curb.
Remember to reverse a bit before pulling out so you don't hit the front pole as you exit.
As you pull out of from between the poles, treat it as a lane change (see above), since you are moving from the parking lane to the driving lane.
Make sure you don't hit the poles!
At the end of your test, you will be asked to park in a parking space, so be sure you have practiced 90° parking beforehand – and choose a parking space that doesn't have cars on both sides if possible 🙂