- 10 unexpected events on a driver's test.
This is like when you're leaving
your high school classroom,
and the teacher yells over the crowd,
"Hey, pop quiz tomorrow!"
Maybe, maybe not.
Number one, emergency vehicles.
If you're in New York City or Los Angeles,
emergency vehicles are going to be part
of your training every day.
But if you're in Climax, Michigan
or Effing ham, New York, not so much.
And I like that last one
because it sounds like you're cursing pork.
Emergency vehicles.
Make sure you pull over immediately
to the right or outside lane.
If you're at an intersection
it might be best to just stay stopped.
But like this young novice driver here where
the police officer pulled up behind him
to pull over a speeder in front of them,
I'm sure that the ride was a lot softer after that,
and they finally got off over to the shoulder of the road.
Try not to panic if you hear emergency vehicles
on your driver's test.
Take a breath, do what you need to do for the purposes
of emergency vehicles on your driver's test.
Number two.
Right on red light.
You may have to do this
for the purpose of your driver's test,
but in the course of training,
you may have only done it once or twice.
Make sure you come to a complete stop
at the correct stopping position at the intersection,
give way to all of the road users,
and when the way is clear, then proceed.
If it's busy at the intersection, yes,
you can wait for the green light.
Third unexpected event is yellow lights,
and this gives new drivers a lot of grief.
Especially if you haven't encountered this
during your training.
Do I stop?
Do I go?
Because if you go through the intersection,
and the examiner looks up
through the top of the window and the light's red,
unfortunately, that's an automatic fail
on your driver's test.
For most new drivers with a bit of experience,
probably 10 or 20 driving lessons
with your mentor and with your instructor,
you're going to get used to knowing
when you can come to a stop
and when you have to proceed through the intersection.
But, this is an unexpected event.
So look for all the signs of stale greens,
the counters counting down and getting to zero,
the flashing hand sign that's telling pedestrians
that they can't cross,
lots of traffic backed-up on the cross streets,
no pedestrians in the intersection.
These are all clues,
that it's a stale green light
and the light could change to yellow.
Because, as I said,
if you're in the intersection and the light turns red;
automatic fail.
Number three unexpected event.
You have to turn left on a yellow light
in the intersection.
If you hesitate at all when the light goes yellow
and you're not moving forward into the intersection,
unfortunately, that's going to be an automatic fail
on a driver's test.
And I strongly encourage you,
if you have some anxiety about turning left
on a yellow light on a driver's test,
take at least one lesson with a driving instructor
if you're not already taking driver training.
This will help you out
and give you the correct procedures for turning left
on a yellow light at a complex intersection.
Unexpected event number four.
Cold grain and weather.
And you're going to have to turn on the defrost
to keep the glass clear in the vehicle
or turn on the windshield wipers.
For the purposes of your driver's test,
at minimum know how to turn on
the high-low beam headlights,
the windshield wipers, and the defrost
because you might have to turn these on.
As well, if it's hot in the summertime
know how to turn on the air conditioning as well
because you'll get bonus points with the driving examiner
for keeping him or her comfortable during the drive.
And just on that note of keeping the examiner comfortable,
make sure you clean your vehicle
before you show up for the driver's test.
Especially in these days of post-COVID.
Unexpected event number five.
Advanced left turning lights.
Know that at some intersections,
there's going to be a specific light
for left turning vehicles.
And if that light is red,
you cannot go because sometimes,
once the advanced green is over,
and the light turns to green,
as long as you give way to oncoming traffic,
you can turn left.
But at some intersections you can't do that.
And again, this ties into knowing
where school zones are,
and other particular intersections and highways,
and those types of things on your driver's test.
In other words, knowing what's on your driver's test.
And again, one lesson with a driving instructor
if you're not already taking driver training,
is going to help you out with these types of intersections.
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Unexpected event number six.
Large vehicles, transit buses, school buses,
and big trucks that could block your way
or slow you down on hills.
Transit buses are not going to stop near intersections.
They're going to stop on the other side of the intersection.
So know that if you get behind a transit bus
you may have to move out and around the transit buses,
especially in residential areas.
Know that you got to mirror signal,
shoulder check and move over.
And then mirror signal, shoulder check back.
I'll put a video down in the description
to show you how to do that.
Big trucks park and stop to unload, unstrap loads,
and those types of things.
Car carriers that are dropping cars off
at auto dealers and whatnot.
Know that this could be something
that you might have to deal with on your driver's test.
It's not something you're going to deal with very often
but you are going to deal with obstructions
of other vehicles being unpredictable on the roadway.
Tip number seven.
Construction crashes and general road closures.
For construction, yes, you can look up on the internet
where the construction is where you live
and where you're going to be taking your driver's test.
Crashes are completely unpredictable
and you might have to deal with that.
Road closures, again, you can go on
the city website and look that up which roads
are closed in and around your area.
Again, this comes back to training and practicing
in and around the test center
where you're going to be taking your test.
No, you can't go into the test center during business hours
but you can go in after hours or you can go in
on the weekends and holidays and practice
in and around the test center
so you know where construction is
and practice at the time when your test is
to be successful first time.
Tip number eight.
Pedestrians jaywalking.
You need at least one meter, three feet, away
from pedestrians when you're driving.
If pedestrians are jaywalking,
simply let off the throttle,
let them finish crossing the road.
If the pedestrian is coming towards you,
you need one and a half lanes of space between you and them.
If the pedestrian is going away from you,
you need one half lane of space.
Tip number nine.
Cars cutting you off.
It's going to happen.
Other drivers are going to do something goofy.
They're going to do something unpredictable.
This is part and parcel of driving.
Expecting other drivers not to do something goofy
is like going to watch your favorite sports team
and expecting the other team not to score.
It's simply not a reality.
Expect it, manage space well around your vehicle,
take your foot off the throttle,
let them go and have their crash somewhere else.
And, if you have to, hit the brake,
avoid, leave yourself an out.
But, unfortunately, if the examiner intervenes
in your driving; that's an automatic fail
on your driver's test.
Tip number 10.
Parallel parking in front of a driveway,
next to a fire hydrant or between two vehicles.
It doesn't happen very often,
but every now and again driving examiners get caught out
and they don't have a space for you to park,
so they just get you to park in front of a driveway.
Try not to get crazy about this.
Because I've had people come back to me and say,
"Oh, I had to parallel park between two cars."
You got to do it.
You got to just take a breath.
Say, "Listen, I can do this." and then do it.
Get it in there.
Doesn't have to be perfect,
if you get a couple of demerit points, that's fine.
But know that sometimes this is going to happen
because driving examiners are going to get caught out
on the test and can't find a place for you to parallel park.
And if you're in front of somebody's driveway
you're not going to be there for very long.
So just parallel park and pass your driver's test,
get your license.
Unexpected events, bonus tip.
Crotchety, old driving instructors.
And usually we envision a man,
but it can be a woman as well.
They put their pants on one leg at a time
and, unfortunately, they have bad days just like us.
And they may get in the car
and they may bark orders at you and those types of things.
In the very unfortunate events, they may yell at you.
And I hope that doesn't happen on your driver's test.
If it does, take a breath, focus on what you're doing,
and say, "I'm going to pass my driver's test. Screw you,
I don't care. I'm going to pass."
And I know that sounds crass,
that sounds not very nice but, unfortunately,
sometimes that's just what you got to do.
Focus on what you're doing,
take away the examiner's right to fail you.
Good luck on your driver's test
and remember, pick the best answer,
not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great day.
Bye now.
Hang on there one sec.
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is what keeps you up at night right now.
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And have a great day.
All the best.