Tips for california driving exam?

krazybob613

Driving Exam

The basic handling portion of the test is inherently flawed - in real life no one cares if you go back and forth 3 times to get properly positioned in a parallel parking spot, and they do care if you jump the curb or hit another vehicle, in the parallel parking part of the test, simply back into the area defined by the cones and stop and beep - do not even try to position properly! You will get one fault point for being out of the lines - but you will get one fault point for each time you maneuver beyond one backing move, one stop and one forward move and one stop. NOT very realistic! Most people who fail the test during the basic control portion fail by racking up points trying to actually get properly positioned!

Many people who fail during the driving portion do so because they fail to come to a complete stop before any portion of the vehicle crosses: A) The painted Stop Line or Painted Crosswalk line. or
B) An imaginary line crossing the road perpendicular to the Stop Sign.
You must come to a complete and total stop within 5 feet before that point and look both directions before proceeding, if when stopped at the correct location you do not have a clear view in both directions of the intersecting road - and at MOST intersections this will be the case! - then after the complete stop, you may inch forward while continuing to scan in both directions until you CAN see clearly in both directions. If at any point you observe conflicting traffic on the crossing street you must stop again and wait for the traffic to clear, if when you reach the point where you can see clearly in both directions and there is no conflicting traffic you may then accelerate smoothly through the intersection or perform any specified turn as the instructor has previously directed.

Make exaggerated turns of your head when you look each direction and when you check your mirrors before any turn or lane change so the examiner can tell that you are making the required visual checks.

Keep your speed within 3 mph below to 1 mph above the posted speed limit unless conditions require a slower speed, the examiner wants to see that you can operate the car at the posted speeds and accelerate at reasonable rates and slow and brake in a smooth and reasonable manner. The best practice for this is to approach a stop sign at the legal speed and attempt to apply the brake at a moderate pressure which will bring the car to a stop within a few feet of the stop sign without noticeably varying the brake pedal pressure! It will take quite a bit of practice but it is a good driving technique to develop.

While not all examiners are exactly equal in their interpretation of exactly at what point you have committed a "violation" during the road driving part of the test, each examiner is testing every candidate driver to the exact same state mandated procedure with the same number of possible faults or errors permissible in the basic handling portion and in the road driving portion of the test.

You may find this difficult to believe but examiners really do not care if you pass or fail ( they get paid either way ) but they care passionately about safe driving and hold all candidates to the same high standard to assure that all licensed drivers do know how to drive safely!

Drive Safely!

meradar

What I did with my kids was to act like I was giving the driving test. Watch limit lines, full stop, watch your speed etc...

Have fun!

thud.fan

While you're out and about practicing your driving skills, go over to the DMV and follow a road test in progress. Yes, it is legal. You will get to see the route with all its little quirks and nuances. That way when you take your road test - no surprises. Most places only have one route for the road test so that everybody gets the same eval.

All the best.

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