My parents drive me to the DMV. The first step is the paper process. I must wait in line for whoever knows how long until I am served. Then I am to present my permanent residency card, social security card, and birth certificate to someone and get my legal parent to sign some sort of paperwork. After that, they're going to take me into another line and, depending on its validity, I either waive the written test because I took driver's ed and obtained a waiver, or I take the written test on a computer. After that, I am taken to a separate set of seats where my family and I can wait. They give me a piece of wrinkled paper on a clipboard that outlines the driving portion of the testing.
I ask one fo my parents to take the car that I am to be tested in and park it in the Reserved for Testing parking space. After then, I wait and wait for a DELAP certified driver to test me. I go in and he checks the car. He checks the tires. He gets inside and he jiggles the steering wheel. He taps the breaks and checks to see if they're not too hard and not too spongey or soft. He checks the signals. He then checks to see if any of the windows will break. He then hands me the keys and he gets into the passenger side of the car. I get in. He's checking to see if I do things the right way. 1. Check my seat. I adjust it so that my arms aren't too cramped and aren't too far away when I reach for the steering wheel. My seat is at a distance so that I don't get foot cramp. I am raised enough to safely drive. I either have my hands at the 10 and 2 o'clock position or the 9 and 3 o'clock position. 2. Put my seat belt on. I make sure he has his on, too. 3. If it is about to rain or there is fog, I put my lights on. 4. Check my mirrors. I adjust them so that I am able to see the whole front of the vehicle that would be behind me if such were the case and that I can see into my blind spots. 5. I put the key in the ignition and I am careful not to grind the starter, for he shall take points off for even that. I have my foot on the break.
I put the car in reverse. I put my arm across the back of his seat and I check to see that no traffic is in the parking lot. If I am pulling out and going to go to the left, I am to pull out, turn the wheel to the right to face left when my left mirror aligns with the end of the parking line or past the end of the car, then switch to drive and pull to the left when my left mirror aligns with the middle of the roadway and drive off. If I am pulling out and going to go to the right, I am to turn the wheel to the left when my left mirror aligns with the end of the white parking strip or just past the end of the car, then turn all of the way facing right, then pull off to the left and drive off. All the time must I check for traffic, for he will be looking for this when pulling out. He will then tell me to go to the end and make a left. I am to drive perfectly on the end, turning on my left turn signal 100 meters before the turn, check to see that no cars are coming, and then execute a left turn without driving on the other side of the road. He will then tell me to drive to the two cones at the end that are parallel to the roadway and make a left, turning between the two cones. There will be a dashed yellow line that runs between them and to the end where a bunch of other cones are set. After I execute another left turn, I must drive to the other cones where he will then tell me to park. I am to give myself enough room so that when I try to park, I can easily swing in without touching one of the cones.
So then I must park between the four. I must nudge any cones or go over the white parking bump at the front. I must go past the two cones representing the front slightly so that it is just past my door mirrors. He will then ask me a question. I must do as he asks. He will ask me what I will do in the following situations: 1. Parking downhill with a curb. 2. Parking uphill with a curb. 3. Parking downhill without a curb. 4. Parking uphill without a curb. What I must do is... 1. Put the car in park. 2. Engage the parking/emergency break. 3. If I am uphill with a curb, I turn the wheel to the left, otherwise it is to the right. 4. Turn the engine off and remove the key from the ignition. Then after I have done so correctly, he wants me to start it up again and remove us from the parking space. I must... 1. Put the key in the ignition and start the car, careful not to grind the starter and having my foot on the break. 2. Straighten the wheel. 3. Remove the emergency break. 4. Put the car in reverse. I am then to back out of the driving space. He is looking for me to look back. I can't just pull out and use my mirrors. I am looking back, with my hand behind his seat and I pull out until I see the cone in his window whiz by. I then turn my head and I turn the wheel to make sure I get past the other cone when I pull out to face left. There is another cone behind me that is there to make sure I don't pull out too far on my pulling out facing left. If I nudge that one, too, I fail. So then I pull out going the opposite way that I came. I go to the end of the way where I passed the two cones. He tells me to make a left beforehand, so I must have my left turn signal on. I turn left. I go to the end of the parking lot where it meets to turn into a road. I must check the sidewalk before I pull out. I must also stop. I then make a right, with my right turn signal on prior. I must stay on my side of the street when I make my turns. I then drive until I come to a four-way stop sign. I must stop, wait for my right of way, then proceed forward. There is another 4-way stop, but there are trees hiding the sign. I must notice this. I must stop and do the same thing. Then I proceed to a round-a-bout. The concept behind this road feature is European and it is new to Americans, who usually don't know what to do and have a hard time with it. Even though everyone else is doing the wrong thing, I must yield the right of way to persons arriving from the left and also to those within the circle, then proceed forward, driving to the right, and connect with the next street. This next street is narrow and there is a speed limit of 35. I must maintain the speed limit. He will tell me to make a left. I must slow down and turn, careful not to drive on the other side always. This is a residential area. I must go about 25 miles per hour. But he's going to test my emergency stops. So then I must go fast until I get to about 20 mph and then do the emergency stop, where I stop suddenly, but not so suddenly that his head or body jerks. So then I must execute a 3-point turn. I must pull over to the side of the street. Then I must put my left turn signal on and go as far left as I can, until my right mirror is about past the center line of the street. I must check the street for traffic. When executing a 3-point turn, I must turn the wheel before I pull off. I then put the car in reverse and I reverse until the front of the car is slightly left from straight. Then I check. Then I put the car in drive and turn to the left, check, then pull forward. He will then test me on my reversing. He will want me to put the car in reverse. I will then do so and put my hand behind his seat. I move my hand to the noon position. While reversing, I must go about 10 mph and be careful not to make sudden movements, keeping the car straight. Once he tells me to stop, I must stop without moving my head back. I then put the car in drive and drive perfectly back to the DMV. I will park in the front. Then I will go back in to take a picture for my driver's license, with a perfect score, and drive my parents home with a letter that says I am a permanent resident able to drive. A week later, I shall receive it in the mail. That's the driving test in a nutshell. I have already passed.
posted by: sky18luv (reply)
post date: 11.26.03 (10:07 pm)
Wow, well done:) I'm learning how to drive aswell. And your entry has cleared up some different questions i've had in my mind, thanks lol. I'm sure you'll due great, but best of luck just the same. :)
posted by: VRain (reply)
post date: 06.19.06 (4:28 pm)
That was pretty well written for a description of a drivers test. I'm taking mine tomorrow but still have maybe one or two last minutes questions. The first time I took it the state trooper in the car with me giving me the test stayed on his cell phone the whole time and then failed me when I finished! It was pretty disappointing, but all I can do is try again i guess. I wish I had someone like you for a tutor!:)
P.S. You guys driving test is about a million times harder than ours...and I still failed it :(.
