Passing the Road Test

You do not have to be a professional driver to get a license. That would be unfair. But let's look at it like this: After you get your license, I hope you drive safely. I have small children in my car and, like thousands of other drivers on the road, I am counting on you to behave like an adult when you are behind the wheel of your vehicle. The safety of my family is in your hands.

When you get a license, it only means the Government trusts you to drive unsupervised. It is no longer necessary to have someone in the car telling you what to do.

But I cannot know whether or not you will drive safely after you earn your license. The examiner cannot know this either. So....nobody can test you on your future behavior, can they?
But....if you prove that you do not know the rules of the road and correct procedures, if you demonstrate that you cannot drive for ten minutes without breaking the law or doing a dangerous action, then we know for sure that you will not drive correctly after you get your license. Does that make sense?

So all you have to do for the road test is demonstrate to the examiner (who is just as nervous as you are) that you can drive correctly for about ten minutes and that you know traffic laws, rules of the road and correct procedures for driving. That's all.

I don't think the driving test is supposed to difficult or tricky. Most everyone should be able to earn a driver's license. But you must show the examiner that you at least know how to drive correctly.

NOW... If you demonstrate that you don't know that a red light means STOP, do not expect to be issued a license. My five-year-old knows red light means stop. On page 15 of the Handbook, the text says that after you have come to a complete stop.....you may turn right against the red light...

A red light is not a yield sign. A right turn at a red light is the same as a stop sign. Stop first.
Some students tell me it is harsh for them to fail you if you don't come to a complete stop before turning right at a red light. It's kind of mean but very true when I tell them that what is harsh is expecting to be issued a driver's license if you don't know that red light means STOP!

There are many other specific things you must do and others you must not do. I call these the do's and the don'ts of passing the road test. It is worth your time and money to learn these do's and don'ts.

And it is just as easy to drive correctly as it is to drive sloppy, lazy and carelessly. If you were the examiner, who would you issue a license to? So if you want to impress the examiner, impress him or her not with how sloppy and carelessly you can drive, but how correctly you can drive.

One more thing- If you want to live to be old, to survive the next sixty or so years of driving, the best way is to drive correctly. Think about this: every time there is a crash, it is because someone did something wrong. If everyone drove correctly all the time, there would be no crashes.

Obey the traffic laws, rules of the road, and correct procedures, and you will protect yourself against your own lack of experience and the erratic actions of other drivers.

Good driving is not about exercising a great amount of skill- how hard is it to steer straight or make a turn? Come on, your video games are way harder than that! Good driving means reducing the risk of crashing by driving correctly. Yeah, yeah, yeah...this is not exciting or cool. Neither is crashing your car.

So when I teach you how to pass the driving test to get your license, I am also teaching you to drive correctly so you can live to be old and gray.

When you are ninety, and you no longer drive 'cause you're so old, you will not look back on your life and say, "The one thing I regret is that I was not a sloppier driver when I was seventeen." That's ludicrous! Of course, there are many people who do regret their sloppy and aggressive driving at a young age. So stay safe and take it easy.

Think about this stuff and good luck on your test!