How To Pass The New York Driving Test
So you’ve passed the New York written test! But what’s next? You can schedule the driving test to get a license. While the New York driving test can be a tough cookie; it’s nothing to worry about, because we’ve got you covered.
In this article, we shall give you tips on how to pass the New York driving test.
Read and Understand The New York Driver’s Manual
Better yet, the driver’s handbook contains information on the driving test examination procedures and rules of the road. If you are familiar with it, there is no doubt you’ll pass the test.
Practice
For you to practice, you must first get a learner’s permit after passing the written permit test NY. The learner’s permit can only be attained if you are above the age of 16.
After getting the learner’s permit, you can practice driving the car, accompanied by a driver who is above 21 years. When practicing try driving under different weather conditions so that you get a different experience. Not to forget, you should look for a road that is not busy to practice on.
If you are under 18 years you are required to do at least 50 hours of driving time with ten of the clocked hours at night. Then again, if you are above 18 years, you do not have to do 50 hours of practice, but a little practice won’t hurt; it will help to boost your confidence.
To ace the test, ensure you practice; gently accelerating to avoid coming to an abrupt stop, making smooth turns so that you don’t jerk around during the test, using turn signals to alert fellow road users, making a three-point turn safely, and work on your parallel parking.
Do a Mock Test
When you’ve practiced enough and feel comfortable, put yourself to the test. Testing yourself helps to point out your weak areas so that you work on them.
To do the mock test, find a friend or a parent with driving experience and let them pose as the examiner. Then draw up a sheet similar to the score sheet the examiner will have on test day. The score sheet should contain speed limits, traffic merging, lane use, and everything else that will be used to evaluate you during the driving test.
Also, ensure you do the mock test close to the test center where you’ve booked an appointment. Why? Because you’ll be more familiar with the roads on the day of the test.
The truth is; the New York driving test is not complex, but it’s very easy to fail. The reason why most people fail is that they make mistakes; which amount to critical errors.
Failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign is one of the most common mistakes. Besides that, failing to come to a stop behind the line on the stop sign or red traffic light amounts to a critical error. A critical error amounts to an immediate fail. Driving at a high speed in residential areas, a school, or at a construction site could also amount to a fail.
Some of the other common mistakes are: not doing check mirrors, failing to do head checks (always exaggerate it so that the examiner sees you’re doing it), rolling stop, and not following the examiner’s instructions (always clarify if you’ve not understood something that the examiner has said).
Don’t Be Distracted
Sometimes it’s hard to keep your eye on the road especially when the examiner is seated next to you with the score sheet; you might just be tempted to take a look. However, this could make you lose focus.
It’s not just looking at the score sheet but any form of distraction could be bad news. Remember, distracted driving is one of the leading causes of road accidents and you don’t want the worst case scenario.
However, anything can happen while driving. Some incidents might be beyond your control but keeping your concentration at 100 percent can save your life and other road users. Then again, you may meet a chatty examiner; they won’t mind if you just talked back when necessary.
Calm Down Your Nerves
We all get nervous when about to take on something big. However, anxiety tends to be more of a disadvantage as that can lead to mistakes. When you’re anxious, one minor inconvenience can make you panic and before you know it, you’ve flunked the test.
Not to worry, there are various methods you can use to calm down your nerves. Before the test, make sure you sleep for at least 8 hours. Lack of sleep can make you cranky and anxious. You should also avoid drinking or eating foods that will trigger anxiety such as coffee or energy drinks with high levels of caffeine (caffeine is an anxiety trigger).
Besides, try and arrive early at the test center and calm your nerves by taking deep breaths. You can also give yourself a pep talk to boost your confidence.