Driving Test Tips

Posted on August 7, 2015

The Best Driving Test Tips Are to Be Relaxed and Be Prepared Through Adequate Driving Practice

On the day of your driving test, one of the best driving test tips that anyone can give you is to relax as much as you can. It is also recommended that you spend more than 60 hours of supervised driving practice right up to the day before your driving test. You will have to master all of the driving techniques that you will be tested in, and one of them is how to make both left turns and right turns.

If you are a new driver with less than two years’ experience in driving, you will enter Alberta’s Graduated Driver Licensing program and spend approximately two years practicing driving techniques during your probationary period. To become a fully licensed Class 5 driver, you will then have to pass the advanced road test. Before you take your test, make sure that you have valid insurance and car registration and that your vehicle is in good working order, since it will also be tested in the following:

 
• Windshield washer fluid

 

• Horn

 

• Brakes

 

• Working windshield wipers

 

• Mirrors

 

• Enough fuel

 

• Working signal lights

 

• Working brake lights

Be Relaxed on the Day of Your Driver’s Test

Whether you are 18 or 38 and are taking the driver’s test for the first, second or seemingly tenth time, the best driving test tip is to be relaxed on the day of your driver’s test. Nothing can change the fact that you will have to get a hold of your nerves and keep them under control for the next half hour to an hour while your driving knowledge and techniques are tested. Relax! Get a lot of sleep the night before your driver’s test. Be respectful of your examiner from the moment you meet them, but do not be intimidated by them - stay confident and smile! You have already put in more than the necessary 60 hours practicing for this test!

You are the only one who knows how hard you have worked in order to pass your driver’s test, anticipating the day when you can drive down the road independently with no-one correcting you anymore. But the most important fact underlying your passing of this test is that you will be joining other drivers on the roads and highways. It’s not on an empty track that you’ll be sailing along, but on a packed roadway full of other drivers who you will have to get along with in sharing the road, playing by the rules. That is essentially what the examiner will be testing you on, in addition to a number of important driving techniques and practical driving test tips.

Master These Important Driving Test Tips to Pass Your Test

The examiner will be looking to pass future drivers who take the rules of the road seriously and abide by them. So take care in practicing driving techniques for as many hours as you can. On the day of the test, do not try to be over-friendly or try to manipulate your driver test examiner in any way – it won’t work. They have known hundreds of examinees just like you and will pick up on anything you try to do to skirt the perfect execution of all the driving techniques at hand. Be yourself and be confident in your knowledge of these driving techniques. The main areas you will be tested in are:

 
• Identifying and operating vehicle controls

 

• Making right and left turns legally and safely

 

• Observing speed limits and zone times near schools and/or playgrounds zones

 

• Parallel parking

 

• Parking on hills (up or down)

 

• Proper lane changing

 

• Managing controlled and uncontrolled intersections

Practical Driving Test Tips

After you have mastered those techniques, here are a few simple practical driving test tips to remember on the day of your driver’s test:

 
• Be observant of speed limits. Driving test examiners can be tricky, but it’s just part of their job to be that way. So even if they ask you to speed up in order to make a light ahead, make sure to notice the speed limit sign you saw before and abide by the speed limit in every case. Make sure you don’t go too slow either, since overly slow drivers can be a hazard on the road as much as overly speedy drivers can. Observe the speed limit in every case!

 

• Since a driving test examiner will be watching very closely how well you have prepared your vehicle for driving before you actually start to drive, ensure your mirror are adjusted, the radio is off, your seat belt is buckled, and you have tested your turn signals before you start the car.

 

• During the test, make sure you use the parking brake if you are asked to park on a hill, then don’t forget to release it before you drive again. If you park uphill somewhere, your wheels should be turned to the left, and if you park downhill they should be turned to the right.

 

• Practice using your brakes until you can slow down gently and gradually, starting fairly far away from a red light or stop sign until you come to a full stop. Make sure you stop completely at a stop sign or red light. Slamming on the brakes is how many people lose points on their driver’s test.

 

• Turn signals must also always be used when changing lanes or turning, even when you are in a turning lane.

 

• When making turns, you have to slow down enough to turn safely but not slow down too much, and look in all directions to make sure there is no oncoming traffic before you make your turn.

 

• When you change lanes, check your blind spot by looking over your shoulder before you use your signal to indicate that you are turning. Check your blind spots and mirrors before changing lanes.

 

• Parallel parking is something you have had to learn the right way to do, so make sure that you have practiced it enough for your driving test. Ensure that you are three feet away from the car in front as well as the car in back of you.

Who Do Bad Drivers Hurt? Other People!

Another helpful driving test tip is to carefully think through the reality of what you are embarking upon in your quest to become a licensed automobile driver. The examiner is not really the main player in your driver’s test, you are. Ask yourself who it is that bad drivers hurt - do they hurt themselves? Yes, sometimes. But much more so, they hurt other people if they cause an accident through their own negligence. So practice and think about everything you are learning, but think even more about the people who are around you on the road. Practice as much as you can, and then practice a little more.