I have my permit

[KJbushway]

I have had my permit since july 2010. The first time I drove, I was nervous. But when It came down to it, I was actually pretty good. I grip the steering wheel to hard, I have sometimes a heavy foot and sometimes I light foot.
Someone actually broke the law by crossing a double line and passing me.
I failed my written test the first time(passed the second time by 1 point), I passed the signs one easy.
Now I am just nervous about taking the actual driving test.

What can I expect from the driving test? I don't want to go off what tv shows.

Anybody else have funny or embarrassing permit license stories they want to share?

 

[Yoda]

Make sure to make big obvious stupid looking head turns when you are checking the sides at an intersection. Some testers don't grasp that your eyes can and do move independently of your head. Learn the basics of parallel parking. Keep practicing until you're not at all nervous. Don't speed... come to a complete stop at stop signs.

If you fail, shrug it off and keep testing until you pass. They let just about any idiot drive. Once you pass don't start driving like a complete retard.

And don't forget to watch License to Drive and ponder what it was like being a kid in the 80s with two too many Coreys.

 

[Spot's Meow]

People will break the law while driving and do things that put you in danger pretty much every day. So get used to it and learn to expect everyone around you to be a horrible driver.

I found the test pretty easy, even though driving did (well, still does) make me nervous. I only got one point taken off, because the instructor said I was too tight on one of my left turns, but that turn was perfect! I didn't actually have to parallel park like they show in the movies, just had to park next to the curb with one car behind me. It really wasn't difficult.

 

[Dukhat]

Cool! You'll be wrecking Dad's car in no time.

Seriously, let me tell you of my experiences. If nothing else, the pure nerve-wracking-ness of them may somehow help you prepare yourself, young Padawan.

I failed my learner's permit test not one , but three times. I have a big problem with tests that are timed, and I couldn't seem to get the required number of questions right in time. But since you already have your permit, let's move along to the driving test.

I failed my driver's test not one, but three times also. The first time I was so nervous that I drove right through the very first blinking red light. I wasn't even on the course yet, man! Automatic failure. I don't think I need to tell you how pissed I was.

The second try, I got as far as the parallel parking. You have to maneuver your car into a spot between two yellow poles without hitting either them or the curb. I hit one of the poles.

On the final attempt, I actually almost ran into another car that was taking the test at the same time I wasn't nervous, I just wasn't paying attention and looking in my rearview mirrors. I mean, who expects another car to be going through the course at the same time you are? Luckily I avoided certain destruction and got to the parallel parking again. I think I must have tried it five times. The guy kept saying I wasn't close enough to the curb. But eventually I got it, without hitting any poles, curbs, or station wagons.

So my advice to you is to not be nervous, but at the same time keep a good lookout for stuff. Doing idiotic things like driving right through a stop sign is no way to fail a test. Ramming into the Griswold Family Truckster is a far better story to tell your buddies when you're trying to bum rides from them because you don't have a license.

 

[SG-17]

Don't speed, AT ALL. Stay BELOW the speed limit. At least in Pennsylvania it is an automatic failure if you go 2 miles per hour (or more) sustained over the speed limit.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

Don't worry if you don't pass the driving part. I failed it my first two times. Testers are just looking for really anal things like your hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel and looking over your shoulder when you change lanes even if there isn't another car for miles around. I bet 90% of the people on the road couldn't pass a drivers test with the way they normally drive. It is a good thing to get a lot of practice parallel parking early in your driving career. I was scared to do it for years.

 

[KJbushway]

Don't speed, AT ALL. Stay BELOW the speed limit. At least in Pennsylvania it is an automatic failure if you go 2 miles per hour (or more) sustained over the speed limit.

Its actaully opposite here in Georgia. you can go 5 miles above the speed limit, I would probably get marks off going to slow.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I think the test varies. During election years, it mysteriously becomes easier.

I was lucky I didn't have to parallel park during my test. At the time I wasn't that good at it, plus I was using my mom's 1978 Mercury Marquis (aka: a boat) for the test.

 

[KJbushway]

Sry about the boat thing.

 

[Kirkman1987]

I sped through a school zone on my test but aced everything else. I passed with the minimum score possible and the policewoman was not happy about it.

 

[Brent]

My advice, learn the hard way. Make mistakes, and you'll learn from them.

In my driving test, I was turning right, and a car was coming from my left and had his blinker on to turn, so thinking he was going to turn and not be in my way I went ahead and made the right turn. First thing the cop (yeah my driving test dude was a cop) told me was "How did you know that car was going to turn?" Of course I told him cause he had his blinker on. The cop said never to trust blinkers, someone could have left it on and did not actually intend to turn there, or some other issue, so always wait till the card makes the turn so that you are sure he really is turning. After that, I now always wait till the car actually makes the turn to make my move.

 

[KJbushway]

Yeah that method would work. My father is teaching me how to drive. I haven't driven long distances. On of my first time I just drove down the street. the second was in traffic at night, both times gripping the steering wheel happened, but I didn't do bad.

 

[Spot's Meow]

You might want to find out what kind of driving test it is beforehand if you are worried. What I mean is, some places have their own course set up, and some places use a set route through city streets. My test was in a residential neighborhood nearby that passed a school and used some main roads. My final parking test was on a regular residential street. If you know the area where your test might be, you can drive around there to practice so that you won't be so nervous during the test.

 

[KJbushway]

Yeah sounds like a plan. I life far away from the actual DMV. But its on a two lane road.

 

[SG-17]

Don't worry if you fail, even if you fail many times. I failed my driving portion 5 times. The first three times were parallel parking (at that time I was driving my dad's F-150), the last three times were for anal things. Having my bumper over the thick white line at a stoplight was one, going "too fast" was the other.
Since my state had a two week wait period if you were under 18 (which I was at the time), I was driving so much between tests I got very comfortable with it. That is the main thing too, getting comfortable and confident with your machine.

 

[Ashu]

Note to self: Don't go to Georgia anytime in the near future.

 

[KJbushway]

Feel free, compared to the other drivers, I am actaully an expert. Georgians are known for being bad drivers.

 

[RoJoHen]

Driver's Education was a mandatory class in high school for me, which included several weeks of behind-the-wheel training, so passing the test was pretty easy for me.

 

[KJbushway]

They did have that at my school, but canceled it due to funds. By I think there is another reason, becuase they built a new structure for every year I was there. And the football team were doing so good that their gear was sold a walmart.

 

[backstept]

They did have that at my school, but canceled it due to funds. By I think there is another reason, becuase they built a new structure for every year I was there. And the football team were doing so good that their gear was sold a walmart.

sounds like the school budget mirrors the national budget . . . "who cares about learning? we want sports!"