Tips for driving test

Many people fails his driving test at first attempt and some of them requires more than three/four attempts to pass the test. Among them, some are very good drivers with 3/4 years of driving experience. So, what are the reasons of failing ? Is it nervousness, or some other reasons that make people unsuccessful at their driving test ? 

Many people comes to me after failing their driving test and I help them correcting their mistakes. After few lessons they passes their test eventually.  I will go through all the usual mistakes people make and how to correct them. If you are preparing for driving test, you might find this useful.

Talk to the testing officer

You can talk to the testing officer. Say hi or hallo and small talk depending on his or her mood. Try to make an easy environment in the car. If you are nervous, small talk might help to ease it. But, make sure you do not lost your focus when talking. If you are unsure about any instruction, ask politely.

Easy driving

People makes mistakes because of nervousness. Of course, you cannot help it. Try to drive with your reflex. Driving is kinaesthetic memory. That means, it is muscle memory. Let your hands and legs, eyes do the job. Do not take extra pressure by thinking what will happen if you fail.

Kerbside parking

This is a must. The testing officer will ask you to do a kerbside parking during the test. In kerbside parking, you have to signal left and directly go to the kerb and park within 500 mm parallel to the kerb. The common mistake is not checking blind spot on left side before go the park. If you do not check, it is a observation error.

Reverse parking

You will get either reverse parking or three point turn in the test. I am not going to the details of reverse parking. The common mistake people makes are not doing necessary traffic checks before starting their parking. Also you must look backwards over your left shoulder during the manoeuvre.  And you must stop if any other car is overtaking from behind..

Three point turn

Common mistakes people makes are, not signalling properly, traffic checks and looking backwards during reversing. So the steps are, signal left, check blind spot and go to the left kerb. stop close and parallel to the kerbside. How close to kerbside depends on the width of the road. Put on right signal, check traffic and blind spot and proceed to right kerb. stop before the kerb and reverse looking over your left shoulder. Reverse until you got the space to clear out. Check traffic left and right before proceed to the road. You must follow exact steps to do the three point turn.

Observation

The most important part of driving test and main reason of failing the test. People often do not understand how poor is their observation skill. When people come to me after failing the driving test, I asked them to drive 10/15 min, for assessment. And First thing I noticed is no checking of mirror at all. When I asked why you are not checking the mirror? They simply surprised. Do I need to check the mirror ? 

That’s why the mirrors are for. You need to check the rear vision mirror regularly, so you know whats happening behind you. You also check mirror before slow down or changing direction. Look left and right if you driving in multi lane road. Look in the distance and scan traffic. When going through any intersection with green lights, try to look left and right. Red light does not guarantee that any will not come through.

Observation is not about passing the driving test, it is about driving safely. If you look, you can see the danger ahead and save yourself.

Stop Sign

Specially international drivers who wants to convert their licence to Australian, make mistakes with this. They come to a stop, but rolled over before complete stop. You must stop completely before the white continuous line. No roll over. After stopping you can edge forward for better view. No need to count three. That’s unnecessary. 

Maintain distance when driving and stopping

Maintain 3 seconds gap from the front car while driving. Increase gap when it is raining. This is mandatory. You also maintain at least one meter gap when stopped. Specially careful when the traffic is very bad.

Speeding

The testing officers are very strict about speeding. Even driving 1 kilo meter over the speed limit is a fail. So, try to stay at least below 7/8 kilo meter of the speed limit. This will give you chance to adjust your error. Also, if your test is in school time, careful about driving at 40 at school zone.

Roundabouts

You must signal left before exiting from the round about. This is a new rule. If it is a single lane roundabout, for right turn, signal right at the beginning and signal left just before exiting from the roundabout. Going straight and left are normal signal as usual.

I tried to cover everything you need to do at the driving test. Driving is muscle memory. So, you should practice all those tips regularly before attempting the test. Finally, If you have driving test ahead, good luck.

Pain to gain a driving test booking in Sydney

Aisha  wants to make a driving test booking after failing her first attempt. So is Sabrina. Nicole wants to get her P licence before leaving for England at the end of March. Will they get any driving test booking at any of RMS of their choice ? God only knows, Not the authorities at RMS.

They are not alone. I know at least dozen peoples who are checking RMS website every day for a test booking. I called RMS to make a test booking few weeks ago. The officer told me to check the website at middle of the month, they will allocate some spots then. I got news that they allocated some test spots at 14th and by the time I checked at 15th, all the test spots has gone. 

It’s like cat and mouse game. Or may be simply I should call myself unlucky.  Now I am checking the RMS website every day trying to catch the mouse, before the cat.

So why is the dire situation of RMS for driving tests?  One of the testing officer at Beverly Hills RMS replied, “We are in transition from RMS to Service NSW, and a lot of things are not in control”.

We hope, they will get their control back soon and provides us  a little bit better service.

Driving school Sydney

Safe driving tips

Sometimes driving good is not enough to save yourself from an accident. Especially when the fault is someone else's. Here are some safe driving tips that might come handy

1. Anticipating other drivers move 

It is observing other drivers.  Most of the time by seeing the movement of other car, you can tell what the driver is going to do. This anticipation can help you prepare for any situation.

2. Keep calm when facing aggression 

We often face aggression from other drivers. Sometimes big truck might stalk you or young driver teasing you overtaking. You must keep yourself calm. If you loose temper, you might end up loosing your life.

3. Avoid sudden movement

Make yourself predictable to other drivers. Do not change lane or turn suddenly. Make sure you give other drivers enough time to prepare.

4. Careful about common driving mistakes

What are common driving mistakes? Changing lane without signal, turn without signal, drive faster in the yellow light, making a three point turn where it is illegal and so on. If your are aware of common mistakes, you can protect yourself.

5. You are responsible for your own safety 

You must not expect everybody on the road are good drivers and will follow the rules. Most of the time accidents happen where somebody has broken the rules. Prepare yourself for anything on the road. Make sure you do not compromise your safety.