Tips To Help You Pass Driving Test On Your First Time

Your driving lessons are complete and you feel like you are ready to take on the behind-the-wheel drive test at the California DMV office. Before heading out for your appointment, we are going to share some tips to show you how to pass your driving test the first time!

Behind-The-Wheel Drive Test Skills

When it comes to the behind-the-wheel drive test, the main purpose is to make sure a person understands the rules of the road and can operate a vehicle safely. Before the driving begins, you will have to pass the pre-drive checklist, which includes arm signals, turn signals working, show the examiner where the defroster is and demonstrate how the emergency parking brake works.

Once that is passed, you will then be tested on your vehicle handling skills. For this portion of the exam, you will be tested on everything from parking lot driving and backing up to navigation of intersections and lane changes.

You should excel at all of these skills, so make sure you are prepared by taking driving lessons with a professional instructor beforehand, available at Coastline Academy throughout California.

Is The Driving Test Hard?

For the driving tests, the pass/fail rate definitely fluctuates throughout the state of California. YoGov did research on the driving test pass rates at different DMV offices throughout California and it ranged from 86% down to 30%.

What is causing people to fail? It varies, but some of the common reasons students fail the first time are:

• Nerves: As it is with any test, anxiety ramps up for people. This anxiety and nerves can cause people to have mental blocks and make people mess up on the easy stuff. You have to go into this driving test as calm as possible and know that, even if you do fail, it's not the end of the world and you can retake it again.
• Bike Lanes: For right turns with a bike lane on the road, you must drive into the bike lane no more than 200 feet before the turn. You should begin signaling about 100 feet before you enter the bike lane. Stop behind the limit line and then complete your turn in the right lane.
• Not Obeying a Traffic Sign or Signal: People fail the driving test because they failed to follow a traffic signal or sign. The yield sign is one of the most common infractions, as students do not give the right-of-way or do not come to a complete stop when other road users are in the intersection.
• Wide Turns: When making wide turns on a two-lane road, you should end up in the lane of the direction you turned. If you turn right, you should end up in the right lane. If you turn left, you should be in the left lane. Students notice the error once they make it and switch lanes without signaling or looking over their shoulder. This would result in an automatic failure.
• Going Too Slow or Speeding: Students that fail for this reason can't stay in that good range. You should try and keep it within 5 miles of the posted speed limit, depending on traffic and road conditions.

If the examiner feels you are in danger of getting into an accident, they will intervene. When they do this, it is an automatic failure for you. Any dangerous maneuver you do, regardless if the examiner has to intervene or not, will result in a test failure.

SMOG, It's Not What You Think

You may have heard of smog, but this is not the smoky fog causing pollution kind. SMOG is an acronym that we at Coastline use to help students remember important skills that promote safety:

• Signal
• Mirror
• Over-shoulder
• Go

It is important to check those blind spots before turns and lane changes. Look over your shoulder, even for left turns.

Driving Test Tips To Help You Pass Your Driving Test The First Time

One of the biggest issues you may come across when trying to figure out how to pass your drivers test is bad habits. You may not even know it, but you could have picked some up along the way since you finished your driving lessons.

This could be anything from driving with only one hand on the wheel or driving too close to the vehicle in front of you. These are small problems, but they can add up to you failing your test.

When it comes to passing the behind-the-wheel drive test, all of the details matter. Remember to practice these tips for driving test to help improve your chances of passing:

• Keep your hands at 9 and 3 and demonstrate hand-over-hand turns
• Stop before limit lines
• Be sure to SMOG
• Stay committed to your lane and stay in it through turns
• Always be on the lookout for speed limit signs and watch your speed
• Use your mirrors at each traffic check and look shoulder to shoulder
• Make complete stops
• Keep an appropriate amount of space between yourself and other vehicles

Follow these driving test tips, as well as these useful tips from the California DMV, and you should be good to go in passing your driving test the first time:

Want to brush up before your behind-the-wheel test? Book a lesson and we'll help you get ready so you can arrive at the DMV with confidence.