Driving Test

[Amaury]

Well, I just passed my written test again and made an appointment for my driving test on Saturday, 4/16/2011. I got 20/24.

I think that I will pass it on my first try, but what got my mom when she took it a long time was the parallel parking and backing around a corner, and she thinks that's what will get me, too.

If anyone has any advice or tricks on the parallel parking or backing around a corner, as well as general tips, feel free to post them here.

This topic was also created on the SEGA forums. (http://forums.sega.com/showthread.php?366379-Driving-Test)

[GreenThunder]

I don't really have any tips for you...because when I took the test they never had me do any of those things. Let's just hope it has changed since then and hope you don't have to, but either way, good luck.

[Ketchup345]

Is it your choice of vehicle?
If so, try finding a friend's hatchback/wagon. Flat back = easier to know where the back of the car is.

(Un?)Fortunately, I didn't have to do either during my test (suburban city, very few spots to parallel park, those that are are either full or often allow you to pull into one on the end, or 2 extra minutes to find a proper no charge parking lot), making the hardest part of mine backing into a parking space (I got it on the last try luckily, it wasn't something I'd practiced a lot).

Backing around a corner? I assume to simulate backing out of a parking spot from between 2 massive vehicles? Take it slow, wait a bit to turn the wheel, especially if the hood is very long. Check mirrors, especially the one that makes looking int he lane behind you easier, frequently. Depending on the person grading this part, you may be encouraged to speed a little bit (maybe 5 over), doing so is probably acceptable. Brake for corners, the only other issue besides the backing into a spot I had was I took one corner a bit too quick, causing part of the car to go over the line.

Will this be on the road, or a set up "parking lot" with cones and such?

[Amaury]

Is it your choice of vehicle?
If so, try finding a friend's hatchback/wagon. Flat back = easier to know where the back of the car is.

(Un?)Fortunately, I didn't have to do either during my test (suburban city, very few spots to parallel park, those that are are either full or often allow you to pull into one on the end, or 2 extra minutes to find a proper no charge parking lot), making the hardest part of mine backing into a parking space (I got it on the last try luckily, it wasn't something I'd practiced a lot).

Backing around a corner? I assume to simulate backing out of a parking spot from between 2 massive vehicles? Take it slow, wait a bit to turn the wheel, especially if the hood is very long. Check mirrors, especially the one that makes looking int he lane behind you easier, frequently. Depending on the person grading this part, you may be encouraged to speed a little bit (maybe 5 over), doing so is probably acceptable. Brake for corners, the only other issue besides the backing into a spot I had was I took one corner a bit too quick, causing part of the car to go over the line.

Will this be on the road, or a set up "parking lot" with cones and such?

I believe that parallel parking is the first part of the test. Also, yes, they do it in the parking lot with cones.

[Neith]

One tip I got when I learned for parallel parking was this: Pull alongside, then reverse until your wing mirror is lined up with the end of the car you're going to reverse in behind. Once there, full lock on steering and reverse in slowly, putting full lock on the other way to straighten up. Make sure you keep checking both back and forwards; the front of your car will be out in the road while you swing it in, so be careful.

To be honest, I haven't needed to parallel park since my lessons (test was 3-point turn and reverse round corner), but I found the wing mirror guide to be helpful.

For reversing round corner, keep checking mirrors to make sure you aren't getting too close to the kerb (sidewalk, whatever you US doods call it) or veering away from it. I found that applying steering once my rearside window reached the apex of the corner was a good idea, but it'd depend on the car. Just make sure you constantly keep checking your back window/rear view and side mirrors, and take care not to scuff the wheels. Hopefully the car you use has good visibility.

Mind, if you're doing this in a parking lot with cones you shouldn't have pathways to worry about :lol:

Above all, keep calm if you can; you're more likely to mess up if you're nervous. If you hit something, at least it's only a test. Better then than on the road.

[Nitro Vordex]

I had to do it with a corner pocket of a wall, meaning if I fucked up I scratched the car. You can imagine how upset my friend would have been had I scratched his BMW. :wacko:

Only thing I remember was a little different for the parallel parking was that I lined up rear bumpers. It's not really that hard at all, just don't be nervous and don't be jerky in movements.

[McLaughlin]

Parallel parking took me some practice. Pull up pretty much even with the car you're parking behind, back up 45 degrees to the curb, once you're almost touching the curb straighten out, then pull forward. I think they usually give you a few cracks at it. Just take your time, and remember that when you're parallel parking you have the right of way. They want you to park properly, not quickly.

I've never heard of being tested explicitly on "backing around a corner." I imagine if you can back out of your driveway you'll be fine. Keep in mind that your rear tires don't follow the same path as your front tires, so leave yourself some room.

Around here they also pick between making you back into a parking spot or doing a three point turn (you always have to do one or the other).

[Amaury]

Thanks for the great tips, everyone!

Keep 'em coming if there are more! :)

[Dhylec]

Let me sum it up in one word: practice!
If you don't have a family car to drive, borrow your friend's, aunt's, uncle's & practice until you feel comfortable.

[Amaury]

Let me sum it up in one word: practice!
If you don't have a family car to drive, borrow your friend's, aunt's, uncle's & practice until you feel comfortable.

I can't -- well, not on public roads, anyway. We got my Learner's Permit on 1/31/2009, renewed it on 1/31/2010, and that's it. It can only be renewed once, so when it expired on 1/31/2011, my mom started driving again when we both go somewhere.

We're going to try and use my aunt's ranch for parallel parking sometime before Saturday, I think.

[AC9breaker]

Don't they have like driver courses you can take where they loan you a car and you can use their car to practice as well as use their car for the test. I'm sure if you take these classes it'll also lower your insurance rates. Also what kind of cockamamey thing is that, that you guys gotta back out and around a corner? My test consisted of Merging into traffic, Parallel park, 3 point turn, and driving around the block.

Maybe thats what people who don't leave in the tristate area do, Drive backwards around corners. :???:

[Syndrome]

I pretty much just had to drive around the block and make a three point turn. They'll give a license to anyone who lives in my state. I didn't learn how to parallel park until like 5 years after I got my license and I still can't do it very well :-?

[sCI]

I think you're making too big of a deal about this. I did not need several years/months of practice to pass the test.
(I lied about the time I got behind the wheel because my parents didn't trust me driving their only $25k+ truck that they need for utility on a daily basis)

They didn't have me do any parking or reverse during my test, but it was in a small town and lasted all but 20 minutes driving literally "around". I never had trouble parking the truck(I did the test in it...) and could without hours of practice if they were to have asked me to.
Enough about me...


You'll be fine. You don't need years of experience(which you apparently have). Good luck.:)

[Kion]

Even if you're driver's permit has expired you can still drive, just keep it to parking lots. I was teaching a friend to drive, she didn't even have a permit, and I taught her to watch with cops in close proximity. I'm sure you've got the driving forward part down, if you7re worried being tested on other stuff then practice to the point where you an go around in a circle backwards.

[Mike]

Even if you're driver's permit has expired you can still drive, just keep it to parking lots.
This is what I was going to say. Try and find some big empy lot with some islands in it. You can use the islands to back around or if you have some kind of cones or something similar at home, those can help too.

[Rashiid]

I got lucky and had a car with a camera in the back so when I was backing up, the navigation system would turn into that camera and show me the back of my car, lol >___>

The lady asked "Are you going to be using this car to actually drive?" I replied yes, and she said it was okay then.

If possible, use a car like this xD

[Split]

Some handy advice:

Parallel parking is not as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. I had to drive into the city and do it nearly every day last summer for my job. Just drive up next to the car in front of the space you want to park and make sure your back wheels are roughly parallel (!) to that car's back wheels; then, throw it in reverse, cut the wheel all the way to the right, and keep backing up until your passenger side mirror passes the aforementioned car's back wheel. At that point, start cutting the wheel back to the left so that by the time you're totally in between the two cars, the wheel will be more or less centered. You'll always have to do some minor adjustments once you're there, but that's to be expected, even on a driving test.

Also, you most likely won't have to parallel park in between two actual cars because of liability issues with the RMV. Instead, they'll set up a rectangle of cones (one pair of cones representing the front bumper of one car, the other representing the back bumper of the other car) that you have to parallel park into the middle of. If you just use your imagination, the above method still works, and on my test they were pretty generous about how much space they gave me.

Trust me, you'll do fine. Use a small car, though preferably one with decent visibility, if you have one.

[Kaziel]

I had a Toyota Camry, so parking is always a pain in tight spaces. -_-

A good car to drive in is a Toyota Prius for a test.

Remember that it's not the end of the world if you fail, and just pretend the driving instructor is your mom/dad. Relax and take it easy.

[Amaury]

Some handy advice:

Parallel parking is not as difficult as everyone makes it out to be. I had to drive into the city and do it nearly every day last summer for my job. Just drive up next to the car in front of the space you want to park and make sure your back wheels are roughly parallel (!) to that car's back wheels; then, throw it in reverse, cut the wheel all the way to the right, and keep backing up until your passenger side mirror passes the aforementioned car's back wheel. At that point, start cutting the wheel back to the left so that by the time you're totally in between the two cars, the wheel will be more or less centered. You'll always have to do some minor adjustments once you're there, but that's to be expected, even on a driving test.

Also, you most likely won't have to parallel park in between two actual cars because of liability issues with the RMV. Instead, they'll set up a rectangle of cones (one pair of cones representing the front bumper of one car, the other representing the back bumper of the other car) that you have to parallel park into the middle of. If you just use your imagination, the above method still works, and on my test they were pretty generous about how much space they gave me.

Trust me, you'll do fine. Use a small car, though preferably one with decent visibility, if you have one.


I had a Toyota Camry, so parking is always a pain in tight spaces. -_-

A good car to drive in is a Toyota Prius for a test.

Remember that it's not the end of the world if you fail, and just pretend the driving instructor is your mom/dad. Relax and take it easy.

We have a Toyota Corolla that's a five-speed, and, yes, it's a small car.

[NegaTsukasa]

screw cars. ride a grass assassin! great conversation starter! and they back up and parallel park for you!

(everyone else already gave the tips I was going to give.) ^^;

[Sha Sha]

The only thing i can say is GOOD LUCK!
I can't drive for many reasons the most is that I have a phobia and i have no depth perception (meaning i cant judge how far things are from me)

[-Zephyr-]

Be sure to always have your three-way hazard lights up whenever possible -- you want to alert people as to the hazard that could be coming when you are parking.

Make sure the handbrake (or in some SUVs, a side footbrake [or "e-brake"]) is up whenever possible; it helps you slow down when parking.

If driving a manual you want to always try to get to highest gear as fast possible. If this means skipping gears, do so. To the contrary, driving an automatic, you want to keep it in the "2" or "1" position when doing highway speeds. These "low numbers" actually mean less work on the engine and will be better for gas mileage.

And wear a seat belt.

[Zarode]

Yeah, just calm down and be yourself.

And turn off the radio.

[Split]

Be sure to always have your three-way hazard lights up whenever possible -- you want to alert people as to the hazard that could be coming when you are parking.

Make sure the handbrake (or in some SUVs, a side footbrake [or "e-brake"]) is up whenever possible; it helps you slow down when parking.

If driving a manual you want to always try to get to highest gear as fast possible. If this means skipping gears, do so. To the contrary, driving an automatic, you want to keep it in the "2" or "1" position when doing highway speeds. These "low numbers" actually mean less work on the engine and will be better for gas mileage.I'm sorry I'm calling you out directly, but your advice is 100% wrong and a potential danger/unnecessary expense to anyone who follows it. It's wrong to the point where I'm pretty sure you're trolling. No driving test will ever tell you to put your hazards on while parking, even when they have you park on a hill. Obviously you put your blinker on in the direction you're parking, but that's totally not what hazards are for...

E-brake up whenever possible???! All that does is ruin the tires, transmission, and the brake itself! You don't use it to slow down when you park, either, because cars have these things called regular brakes. You know the "E" stands for "emergency," right? There's a reason for that. Unless your regular brakes give out, you shouldn't ever use it while moving (unless you're trying to be cool and powerslide, which still ruins the fuck out of your car over time, unless you do it on an appropriately slippery surface).

Also, as someone who primarily drives a manual, the whole "get to the highest gear as fast as possible" comment is totally wrong as well, and you should ALWAYS shift up in order without skipping - even if you're only shifting from 3 to get to 5, you should touch on 4 in between. Skipping is only okay when downshifting. If you're in an automatic, seriously, unless it has like a manual mode with like paddle shifters or something like that, just keep it to drive. Especially on the highway, you don't want to be in first or second gear; the engine won't be able to rev up far enough to keep you at the speed you're at. That'll just make it work harder, contrary to what you said. Most automatics these days are factory tuned to shift to a gear that saves gas at highway speeds; for example, a Toyota Corolla S shifts back down to the 3rd gear if you strike a steady speed between 55 and 65. If you actually want to save gas on the highway, go into cruise control if your car has it. I drive a stickshift 2005 Ford Focus, and if you put it in cruise at 65, it gets a whopping 40 mpg.

Sooooo yeah. Either you've never driven before, you're a huge troll, or you ruin every car you drive and end up spending a ton of money on repairs and the gas that you're wasting.

You should always wear a seatbelt though.

[McLaughlin]

Be sure to always have your three-way hazard lights up whenever possible -- you want to alert people as to the hazard that could be coming when you are parking.

Make sure the handbrake (or in some SUVs, a side footbrake [or "e-brake"]) is up whenever possible; it helps you slow down when parking.

If driving a manual you want to always try to get to highest gear as fast possible. If this means skipping gears, do so. To the contrary, driving an automatic, you want to keep it in the "2" or "1" position when doing highway speeds. These "low numbers" actually mean less work on the engine and will be better for gas mileage.

Don't do any of this if you like not seeing your mechanic.

[Split]

^ I'm calling troll there, fo real

[BahnKnakyu]

Wall of text.

You got trolled there, buddy.

[Split]

You got trolled there, buddy.How many times have I said I'm pretty sure that guy's a troll? Sorry if I still want to make sure no one follows his bogus advice. OLOL YEAH HE SURE GOT ME GOOD!

[Amaury]

Well, we're leaving in about a minute to run errands to check the car's air pressure, etc. and for my driving test, so wish me luck, guys, and thanks for the advise.


Update:
88/100 - 88% :) :) :) :)

[NoiseHERO]

Never crossing the street.

Ever again.

[McLaughlin]

Never crossing the street.

Ever again.

I've been struck twice on the sidewalk (hospitalized both times).

Nowhere is safe.