- Hi there smart drivers.
Rick with Smart Drive Test talking to you tonight
about driving examiners.
Yes, the gatekeepers who decide
whether you pass or fail your driver's test.
Stick around, we'll be right back with that information.
(upbeat music)
All right, so driving examiners, their job and your job.
And I get a number of comments every week, unfortunately,
you know, a half a dozen people who come back
and are not successful in passing the driver's test.
And I'm sure this is the look that they have on their face
after they failed the driver's test.
So if you do your work and you do your preparation,
you're going to be successful on your driver's test.
It's really tough to fail
if you get the proper instruction
and have the proper practice.
So driving examiners.
What is your job? What is their job?
Their job is to assess your ability
to have due care and control of the vehicle
in changing traffic conditions.
And that means merging onto a highway,
that means driving in city traffic,
that means making left-hand turns at complex intersections
and figuring out what to do when the light turns yellow,
that means driving on highways.
Your job is to take away the examiner's right to fail you.
Nothing less, nothing more,
and you don't have to go for perfection.
We're not looking for perfection.
We're looking for a pass and if you get a few demerits,
that's fine just as long as you pass
and you get your driver's license
because the remainder of your driving career,
you're going to be working on being a better driver.
So first impressions, if you're taking your own vehicle,
make sure you give it a wash,
make sure that you clean all the fast food wrappers
out of the foot wells and those types of things,
especially in this day of COVID.
As well, you know, put on some nice clothes.
Don't look all scruffy
because you want to have a good impression
and the test is probably going to go better for you.
And as well, know that with all of the backups right now
that DMVs are experiencing,
you have a very short time for your test.
It's not going to be 20 to 30 minutes anymore.
It's going to be 8 to 10 minutes.
So you have to be on top of your game
as soon as you start your driver's test
and first impressions are important.
And new video this week with Kayla,
it was the second driving lesson with her.
We went out on the roadway
and she was having some challenges
managing her speed on the highway.
Unfortunately, it was automatic fail
because she was so slow on the highway
and anything that she was doing wrong,
it was just that she hadn't had any experience
driving on the highways so she needs a bit more practice,
but we're getting there with her
and it's working out really well.
So have a look at that video.
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Some of the myths around taking your driving test
with driving examiners.
Don't wear sunglasses. That's bunk.
If it's sunny out and you need to wear sunglasses,
wear sunglasses, because personally, me,
I'm very photosensitive
and I have two or three pairs of sunglasses in my car.
I cannot drive without sunglasses.
So wear sunglasses if you need them, okay?
Don't engage in conversation. I encourage you not.
At the beginning, to just focus on what you're doing,
you're going to be nervous anyway.
You know, if you're halfway through your driving test
and the examiner engages in some conversation,
then that's fine, but for the most part,
focus on what you're doing, okay?
Driving examiners work to fail you. That's simply not true.
If you have a driving examiner
that's failing 9 out of 10 students
that they take out for a driver's test,
the manager is going to call that person in and say,
"Listen, why do you have an 80% fail rate?"
It just doesn't happen. People fail for a reason, okay?
Other myths, examiners have a quota
of the number of people to fail.
No, that's not true.
I have to speak perfect English. No you don't.
You've got some basic English.
Right, left, straight, you know?
And you understand the road rules
and you can understand the signs and those types of things,
you're going to be perfectly fine.
And examiners are unfair. Most examiners are not unfair.
You have to understand they put their pants on
one leg at a time like the rest of us,
they have bad days, they have good days,
but for the most part, they're doing an excellent job,
they're doing the work that they need to do,
and if you failed your driver's test, unfortunately,
maybe something went wrong in the traffic environment.
Or in most cases, you just weren't ready
and didn't have enough practice.
So these are the myths around driving examiners.
The vehicle.
This goes back to making sure your first impressions,
make sure that you do a pre-trip inspection
on your vehicle before you show up
because you don't want to be denied your test
because you had a brake light out
or something that's easily fixed.
And as well, if you're going with a driving school,
ask the instructor if he or she
did a pre-trip inspection on the vehicle.
Most professional driving instructors
will do a pre-trip inspection
before you get out for a driver's test.
And a couple of videos here,
you can find the pre-trip checklist down in the description.
Most common mistakes on a driver's test
that will cause you to demerit out.
And then top 10 automatic fails on a driver's test.
So have a look at those two videos.
Road signs.
These are some of the reasons
that you will fail your driver's test.
Failing to adjust speed according to the signs.
You're not moving over when the lane ends
and there's a merge sign.
You don't know stopping positions
at stop-signed intersections,
or you don't know the difference
between two-way stops and four way stops.
School speed-zone signs, road markings.
Make sure you're paying attention to road markings.
I had one driving examiner in Victoria that his pet peeve
was that you couldn't cross over solid white lines.
Most of the time they're found at crosswalks
or they're found at intersections.
So know that for road signs, okay?
Slow speed maneuvers. Turning, parking, maneuvering.
These maneuvers, you can be guaranteed
that at any road test,
you're going to have to do backing into a parking space,
parallel parking and three-point turn.
The only states that you don't have to do parallel parking
are the state of Ohio, Maryland, and California.
So know that, that every other state, every other province,
you're going to have to do parallel parking.
If you spend the time doing the slow-speed maneuvers,
it's going to improve your overall driving.
Lane Positioning.
Move to the right after turning left.
The examiner's not going to tell you to do this.
You have to do it automatically.
When you turn on multi-lane roads, left lane to left lane
and right lane to right lane.
And then signaling anytime you move the vehicle sideways,
anytime that you turn, you have to signal, shoulder check,
and you have to communicate with other traffic.
And the five ways that you communicate,
lights and signals, horn, use your horn sparingly,
hand gestures, don't tell them they're number one
on your driver's test, use all five fingers,
eye contact and the position of your vehicle on the roadway
are the ways that we communicate with other traffic.
So the driving examiner, there's two ways
according to those videos that I put up.
One way is an automatic fail on a driver's test,
some of the automatic fails.
Entering an intersection you can't clear
and you get stuck in the intersection, the light turns red.
Not pulling over for emergency vehicles.
These are just some of the ways
that you could potentially fail your driver's test.
And then you can demerit out. You have too many demerits.
You bang the line, you're not centered in your lane,
you get five or 10 points every time you do that.
Your turns, your steering is not smooth,
you get five points for that and those types of things.
So different ways that you can demerit out
and most driver's tests in north America
are going to be kind of 30, 35 demerit points
before you fail your driver's test and are not successful.
Hit that thumbs up button,
leave a comment down in the comment section.
We'll do what we can to help you out to get a license
and those types of things.
So if you passed your license in the last couple of weeks,
congratulations on that, all the best.
And if you've got a test coming up this week,
good luck on that.
And remember, pick the best answer,
not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great night. Bye now.