Practical licence test tips?

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scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#989578 18-Feb-2014 12:26

HowickDota:
gzt: Awesome guys! keep it coming!

scuwp:But seriously, you just need to verbalize your defensive driving as it says in the guide. You do it instinctively as a driver (or at least you should) the hard part is recognizing what you are doing and putting it into words, so practice doing this beforehand. It's basically like thinking out loud, i.e. "car at intersection on my left, reducing speed, ready to brake..." or "cyclist ahead, moving over to the right to the right slightly"...or "car following closely behind, increasing following distance to car in front to compensate".

Excellent explanation. : )

All the way through the test?

I did the test last week, and was only asked to describe the hazards about 4 times in total, once when I was changing lanes and the other times were when I was turning out of a side street. About 15 seconds or so each time, then he'd say that was enough/fine.

Yep. Ask the assessor if unsure. My understanding is this will only be for a portion of the whole test.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

kiwitrc

4123 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#989606 18-Feb-2014 13:49

Remember time is money, the faster you can get around the circuit, the more tests the instructor can do and the more money he or she makes.

You can save time by driving over roundabouts instead of going around them and also by not slowing down for corners, you can get the nose of the car to point in the right direction using the handbrake in the corner or going around on two wheels.

Also the instructors are highly impressed by doughnuts in the car park prior to, and after returning from the test, don't over do it though as no one likes a show off, three or four is usually enough.

Good luck.

Buzz Bumble

332 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#989884 18-Feb-2014 18:47

kiwitrc: ...Also the instructors are highly impressed by doughnuts in the car park prior to, and after returning from the test, don't over do it though as no one likes a show off, three or four is usually enough.

Good luck.

Even better is if you give them door-to-door service and finish the test by parking inside their office. ;-)

Thy're also greatly impressed if you can prove that you can reassemble the car at the beginning of the test from a pile of individual parts. ;-)

Abo

78 posts

Master Geek

#989919 18-Feb-2014 19:36

Make sure you use your mirrors ALOT. (ALL of them not just rearview)

You also need to make sure it is obvious that you are looking in the mirrors - i.e head movement not just eyes.

If you are looking at them enough that it feels dangerous then it's about right for the tests.

gzt

17111 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#990051 18-Feb-2014 22:36

Question about using flush medians and the practical marking.

The first NZTA resource I looked at uses the word 'wait' as in stop:

You can only drive onto the flush median to:
- wait to move into a gap in the traffic flow after you have turned right (car A in the diagram below)
- slow down and wait before turning right (car B in the diagram below).

The second NZTA resource I looked at does not use that word and might imply continue moving with no stop required.

For obvious reasons I'm not interested in a debate about which is better and why and different situations.

I'd really like to know how the testing officer will see this rule on the day. : ).

gzt

17111 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#990063 18-Feb-2014 23:09

Well, I think I've made a good summary of that one.

Essentially it's not a lane, it's a kind of restricted bay - allowed usable only for a couple of car lengths. That is obvious, but is the opposite of standard Auckland congested low speed driving in practice ; ).

Planned stopping at the correct position is required to avoid breaking the rule above.

gzt

17111 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#990367 19-Feb-2014 12:38

Thanks Geekzone, I passed the passenger endorsement (full standard practical) this morning.

The instructor warned me about a couple of things at the end of the test. Missing a head check prior to indicating to change lanes. I'm fairly sure I did check but I do recall a car appearing alongside just prior to the move. Maybe I did not look as far to the rear as the testing officer was expecting due to that.

Second item was not making better use of a median strip when turning right into a driveway/parking area. TO said it wasn't really an issue because luckily I did not hold up any traffic so he could pass that. The median strip in this case was maybe 2/3 of a car width. With hindsight I could have straddled the median instead of keeping on the left of the right hand limit of it.

Overall I had that just squeeked through feeling. In hindsight I would have made more time to gain familiarity with the rental vehicle, particularly in parallel parking.

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scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#990372 19-Feb-2014 12:50

gzt: Thanks Geekzone, I passed the passenger endorsement (full standard practical) this morning.

The instructor warned me about a couple of things at the end of the test. Missing a head check prior to indicating to change lanes. I'm fairly sure I did check but I do recall a car appearing alongside just prior to the move. Maybe I did not look as far to the rear as the testing officer was expecting due to that.

Second item was not making better use of a median strip when turning right into a driveway/parking area. TO said it wasn't really an issue because luckily I did not hold up any traffic so he could pass that. The median strip in this case was maybe 2/3 of a car width. With hindsight I could have straddled the median instead of keeping on the left of the right hand limit of it.

Overall I had that just squeeked through feeling. In hindsight I would have made more time to gain familiarity with the rental vehicle, particularly in parallel parking.

Congrats!

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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