TOP 10 TIPS TO PASS YOUR ROAD TEST FIRST TIME
Hi there, Rick with Smart Drive Test talking to you today about the top 10 things that you
need to do to be successful on a road test. For the purposes of a road test
must demonstrate to the examiner that you have due care and control of the
vehicle at all times.
Underpinning due care and control of the vehicle at all times is speed and space
management. You must have control of the speed of the vehicle
appropriate to the environment and the traffic in which you're in. And you must
have space management: you must not get too close to other fixed objects or
other vehicles on the road. Be right back to tell you what those top 10 ways to be
successful ways to be successful on your road tests are.
Introductory music.
Hi there, welcome back. The number one way to pass your road test and be successful is practice.
Practice, practice, practice! The more practice you get driving the vehicle
that you are going to road tests on--whether it's a bus,
truck, or car, or a motorcycle--practice. Get as much driving time as you can. Driving
a vehicle is NOT a spectator sport. You can't watch somebody else do it and
learn how to drive. You have to get behind the wheel,
you have to get comfortable with the primary controls of the vehicle, and you
have to develop a hazard perception catalogue, a catalogue of different
scenarios that come together in any combination of the six driving task
criteria--and you can see that in another video--that can get you into danger. So practice
practice, practice!
The second way to be successful on your road test is slow speed manoeuvres. Go out
to a parking lot, set up some cones, do some forward figure eights, back around
corners, reverse figure eights, into stall parks, drive in tight laneways. Anything
that you can do that will help you to do slow-speed maneuvers. The ability to
control the vehicle at a slow speed in a tight space - all of those skills
that you learn to do that are transferable and will make your overall
driving better. Practice slow-speed maneuvers.
The third way: parallel park. Ohhhhhh.....The dreaded parallel park. Everybody hates the parallel park.
It is the most difficult slow-speed maneuver that you have to conduct on a
road test for a class 5 or a G1 license. Parallel parking, if you don't
know how to do it and you don't get clear instruction from your parents or
other people who are helping you and your family, go to a driving school,
get professional help and they will help you to parallel park. Now, when you're
practicing in a neighborhood in your parallel parking off a car, do it two times
and then move on and find another vehicle. But you have to be able to
parallel park, regardless of the fact that we know as traffic authorities that
seventy percent of drivers will never parallel park again. But it is the key to
you as a new driver demonstrating to the examiner and the authorities that you
have due care and control of the vehicle.
Practice parallel parking.
The fourth way to be
successful on your road test. Back up as much as possible.
Begin backing up in straight lines, then back around corners. One of the things you're
going to have to do is do a two-point reverse turn. So you're gonna have to
pull past the driveway or a laneway or a parking space and you're gonna have to
back around the corner and then reverse in the opposite direction. So back into
the laneway and then drive forward and pull out again. Backing, the more backing
you can do the more comfortable you become the vehicle and the primary
controls: the steering wheel, the throttle, the brake. Back up! And when you get really
comfortable with backing, go out to the parking lot, set up your cones and do
reverse figure eights - reverse figure eights. When you think you've got it all
figured out and you can master those, then you're probably ready for your road test.
Number 5. The other way to get better at driving is parking. Parking in mall parking lots
are any congested parking lot is a good way to learn more about the vehicle. You
see lots of people backing out of a parking space in a mall parking lot and
they get into a tight corner, or the fronts just gonna miss, and you see them
in the car and the car sucks in. No, the car doesn't have the suck-in feature where it gets smaller.
Actually what happens is, as they get into a tight space they slow down and the
slower any vehicle goes, the sharper it turns. So keep that in mind when you're
parking, you're backing up, or you're doing any other slow-speed maneuvers. The
slower you go, the sharper the vehicle turns.
So the sixth way to be successful on your road test is shoulder checking. I cannot
stress this enough: you must shoulder check! You cannot do too much shoulder
checking, but if you do too little you're not going to be successful. So every time
you make a lateral movement, shoulder check; every time you make a turn
shoulder check as you're coming up to the turn and then shoulder check
immediately before the turn. So if you're turning right, shoulder check to the
right and then shoulder check again as you make the turn. You don't need to turn
more than 90 degrees; just turn your head 90 degrees, your peripheral vision
will take care of the rest.
But shoulder check, shoulder check, shoulder check. That is the sixth way of being
successful on a road test.
Number 7: to be successful on a road test, do a mock test. If you haven't been involved
in driver training with a professional driving instructor, go to a school and
tell them that you want to do a mock test and go out with an instructor and
do a mock test. They will be able to identify the gaps in your abilities and
skills and tell you what you need to brush up on, or work on to be successful
on a road test.
Remember, driving instructors prepare people for road tests everyday. They know
what skills and abilities you need to have to be successful on a road test. So
number 7, do a mock road test.
Number eight, on the day
of your road test do a pre-trip inspection of the vehicle. Check the
lights, check the horn, check the windshield wipers, make sure that
everything is good.
Make sure that you have the registration and insurance in the glovebox; make sure
that you have a license plate on the front and the rear of the vehicle, if
your province or state requires that you have a license plate on the front and
the rear. Make sure that the decals are valid; make sure that the seat belts work;
that the seats are secure; that nothing is floating around in the car. Get rid of
all of the garbage, because examiners do not wanna sit in a car that is filthy dirty.
Leave the pets at home. Make sure that you do a pre-trip inspection
because you have a signal light out, or if you have a brake light out, they
will not go out on a road test with you. So make sure that you do a pre-trip
inspection! Don't just get Uncle John's car and show up at the road test,
because you may not be able to go on your road test. So take the time,
do a pre-trip inspection in the morning before you show up your road test. If
you're going with a driving school,
make sure that you ask the driving instructor if he or she has done a
pre-trip inspection of the vehicle before you show up for the road test.
Number 9 is the correct paperwork. Make sure that you have your paperwork
to show up for the road test so you can take your road test. You'll need your
learner's licence, you will need a secondary piece of ID, and I would even
bring a third piece of ID if you're a new driver, just in case. You will also
need money because there's a cost involved in taking the road test. And any other
paperwork that you think that you might need. If you're unsure, contact your local
authority--the MTO in Ontario, ICBC in British Columbia, the Ministry of
Transportation in Alberta, and so on and so forth.
Have the correct paperwork. You don't want to show up and not have the correct
paperwork. Because if you don't have the correct paperwork, they won't let you
take your road test. So check to make sure that you got your paperwork.
And number 10 is: poop, breathe, visualize! When you go in for your road test, sign in, take the
time, take a moment & go to the toilet. There's nothing worse than trying to
do a road test if you gotta go to the bathroom. Pretty tough to be successful
if you get your legs crossed. So... go to the toilet. Remember breathe: in through
the nose, out through the mouth. Breathe to your navel. This will force you to relax.
You're very nervous, so breathe. And finally, through all of your practice
visualize the instructor saying to you: "You passed!" If you visualize it in your head
it is much higher probability that you're going to be successful on your
road test. So the last one: poop, breathe, visualize! Go to the toilet, breath:
in through the nose, out through the mouth. Breath all the way into your navel.
Visualize passing your road test!
So, in conclusion, the top 10 ways to be successful on your road test. 1) practice
driving; 2) slow speed maneuvers; 3) parallel park; 4) backing; 5) parking; 6) shoulder check. 6) Do a
mock test. Figure out where the gaps might be in your abilities and knowledge
for a road test. 7) Before the road test, do a pre-trip inspection of the vehicle.
Don't get caught out because you can't go on your road test because the
vehicles not up to standard for the authority where you're taking your
license. 9) Paperwork - make sure you have the right paperwork before you show up for the
road test.
Finally, poop, breathe, visualize! Go to the toilet,
breathe, visualize yourself being successful. Good luck on your road test!
I'm Rick with Smart Drive Test. Remember: pick the best answer, not necessarily the right
answer. If you like the channel, subscribe below;
hit the like button. Thanks very much for watching. Have a great day!
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