Getting your driver’s licence is an exciting milestone. But it's a milestone many don’t get on their first attempt, around 40% of teens, according to the Automobile Association (AA).
Fair Go gets plenty of correspondence about how difficult and expensive the test is, around $135, so it makes sense to be as prepared as possible.
Driving instructor Harald Leeuwenburgh has been taking teens through their paces for more than 20 years. He says there are a range of common mistakes that see teens sent home licence-less.
These include:
- Not having a current warrant and registration
- Not having their learner licence on them
- Brake lights/indicator lights/headlights not in working order
- Tyres flat and even turning up late!
Mistakes like that mean you don’t even get to jump behind the wheel.
The test itself is divided into two parts. The first part covers the basics, such as lane changes, navigating intersections, a parallel park or three-point turn.
The second part is more complex and includes higher-speed driving and more difficult or busier intersections.
You’re allowed to make one critical error in each part of the test. Critical errors include things like not indicating; not checking blind spots; or exceeding the speed limit by more than 5km/h.
But you can get an instant fail if you are 10km/h over the speed requirement; don’t come to a COMPLETE stop at a stop sign; run a red light; or fail to give way to traffic.
Some things to note:
- You MUST indicate when leaving a roundabout
- You need to check your blind spot when crossing over a bike-lane while turning left
- Watch for temporary speed changes around things like road works
- You must indicate if you are passing a parked car that requires you to touch/go over the centre line
- You don’t need to stop at a stop sign for any length of time, just as long as all four wheels come to a stop.
It's worth taking the time (around 120 hours of driving time) to get these things nailed down because, thanks to Covid, if you fail, you could be waiting a while to re-sit as there’s a big backlog, including people returning to NZ and needing to sort expired or international licences out.
Plus that $135 can buy you a (little) bit of your first tank of petrol.
Don’t be too despondent if you don’t pass the first time – Leeuwenburgh reckons most adults would fail too if they had to sit the test today.
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