Feeling nervous about your Driving Test? Don’t worry.

Here are “10 Common Mistakes to Avoid on the Road Test," which will make it easier for you to prepare and pass it with confidence.

The driving test is the most important step toward obtaining your driver’s license. While it takes a lot of practice to get ready for the road test, knowing what are the most common mistakes people make during the test will help you to test yourself and know if you are ready.

1. Feeling Stressed and Nervous during the test

Stress is huge; it can take a confident, competent driver and turn him to mush. Stressed people have a lack of focus and poor concentration and, in many cases, fail to follow the instructions of the examiner and sometimes let the situation go out of control. Make sure you have a good sleep the night before the test and think positively. You shouldn’t be stressed if you were practicing enough, but if even then you are developing anxiety – practice more. Practice makes perfect, it really works. Feeling confident in what you are doing will help you to control your emotions. This post can help you to overcome stress and anxiety. During the test don’t try to watch the examiner, just focus on driving. If you make a mistake – don’t worry about it, concentrate on driving instead and be ready for the new examiner’s instructions.

2. Not getting enough practice

In many cases, the applicants, who have not taken driving lessons with a professional instructor, don’t know what is expected of them during the road test. Even if you are confident in your driving skills, it would be very beneficial to get a lesson or two prior to the test with the experienced instructor. There are many bad habits that can cause you to fail the road test, this is why it is important to be evaluated by a professional who can point out your mistakes and help to fix them. Listen to all the tips and practice on improving.

3. Not having full control and command of the vehicle

The first thing the examiner will look for is whether or not you have full command of your vehicle. If you are intimidated by the car, make jerky starts and stops, and generally show a lack of confidence in your driving, it will count against you. Be sure you are familiar with the brakes in the car you will be using during the drive test. Hard braking will not be acceptable while slowing down or stopping unless it is an emergency situation.

4. Not checking the mirrors and side-to-side head checks

Many driving test-takers completely forget regularly check their rear-view and side mirrors and it’s very common for people to fail the test when they are not doing head checks. Not checking a blind spot every time you pull out into the road, change lanes, or merge into the highway can lead to test failure as well. Another common mistake is not looking in the direction one is going. When backing up make sure that you look over your shoulder out the rear window. Also, look to the left and to the right. Make sure that there is nothing in your way before you start moving.

5. Not stopping at stop signs.

This can lead to an instant failure. In many cases, it happens because the student drivers see the way is clear of traffic and release the brake before they are fully stopped. Some drivers don’t clearly understand the difference between Stop and All-Stop traffic signs and fail the test because of it. When you come to an intersection with stop signs, especially at four-way stops, be sure you know what to do, especially if there are other cars waiting at the intersection.

6. Failing to follow speed limits

Stay within the speed limit even if other drivers are driving faster. Be aware of changes in the speed limit, especially in school zones, work zones, and other special speed limit areas. Many drivers do not reduce their speed when going into a slower speed limit area till they have entered the zone. That bad habit can cause a critical error on the test. If you move into a 50km area you need to be down to the 50km limit by the time you pass the 50km sign and if you are 5 km above the speed limit for more than 5 seconds – you get a critical error. If you are 10 km above the posted speed limit you can fail instantly. And don’t accelerate towards speed humps – yes, another common mistake on the exam.

7. Failing to proceed on a green light

If the driver fails to proceed on a green turning arrow without stopping – he gets an error, in some situations, it can be a critical one as well as you may hold up traffic.

8. Failing to give the right of way

Making judgments at intersections of when it is safe to go is a key element of good driving. This is called your “Gap Selection” in the test. If you decide to pull out in front of another vehicle at an intersection when that vehicle has the right of way, you must make sure you don’t make that vehicle have to alter its speed or direction to accommodate your maneuver. This commonly happens in the driving test because the driver has not had enough experience at judging gaps or does not understand how to apply the giving way rules. In a driving test, this error is called Failing to Give Way and can lead to an instant failure of your driving test. Revisit the “Yield the Right Of Way” rules here.

9. Entering the intersection on a yellow light

Don’t try to hurry into an intersection to save time, you are taking your driver’s test, not participating in a race. So many drivers start driving faster when they see a yellow light. Don’t do that. Remember, if you are crossing into an intersection and the light changes to red, you are breaking the law and creating a dangerous situation for cross-traffic.

10. Making a right turn without yielding to pedestrians

You will fail automatically if you turn in a crosswalk with a pedestrian in it, even if he is clear on the other side of the road. Just remember not to enter a crosswalk unless there is no one in it. Watch carefully the people standing on the corners, as they can quickly decide to enter the crosswalk.

Good luck!

Courtesy of Sprint Driving School in Toronto:
- https://blog.sprint-driving.com/top-10-common-mistakes-to-avoid-on-your-driving-test-2/