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I passed the written test and got my permit!

iBookG4user

iBookG4user

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 27, 2006
6,595
2
Seattle, WA
On tuesday I went to the DMV after I got out of school (early release on Tuesday/Thursday so at 12:30) to take the written test. I was pretty nervous because I had completely forgotten to study before monday, so I crammed on Monday and some during school on Tuesday. I got 5 wrong on the written test, most of which were easy mistakes because I was nervous, but I passed nonetheless. I take the behind the wheel with the driving school on Tuesday, any advice?
 
Sounds quite different to NZ tests.

Here, when you are 15, you sit a written test, and you are able to drive right away (supervised of course). You are only allowed to get 3 wrong, but most people that actually study for it get 100%.

Suggestions? Um, don't do what I did on my Full test a few years back and speed. He didn't like that.
 
jamesmcd said:
Sounds quite different to NZ tests.

Here, when you are 15, you sit a written test, and you are able to drive right away (supervised of course). You are only allowed to get 3 wrong, but most people that actually study for it get 100%.

Suggestions? Um, don't do what I did on my Full test a few years back and speed. He didn't like that.
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The US written test has 46 questions and you can miss a max of 8, so that's roughly 80% or above. To be honest, I thought the final test in my drivers ed was harder than the written test :p.
 
so was it your first try? as far as advice, practice being overly cautious, when you go in for the test to actually get your license, they want you to be extremely cautious. when I got my license I was marked off for turning into the DMV when there was a car coming slowly, but you could have gotten another car across behind me.
 
Yeah, I passed the test on my first try. I've heard that they want you to look over your shoulders a lot and not totally rely on your mirrors, is this correct?
 
iBookG4user said:
I've heard that they want you to look over your shoulders a lot and not totally rely on your mirrors, is this correct?
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Yes it is. for the test they want you to actually turn your head so they know you have seen any cross streets, so it is best to practice this while you have your permit, afterwards you don't have to do it as much.
 
Getting a permit in Massachusetts is ridiculously easy. The test is only 20 questions long, mostly about fines (choose the biggest fine, give the most power possible the DMV, etc.), how many feet you need to be from stuff (always the biggest length) and shapes of signs (hmm), and you only need to get 14 right. Any elementary student could pass.

Your 46 question system is probably better, if it requires any studying at all.
 
iBookG4user said:
Yeah, I passed the test on my first try. I've heard that they want you to look over your shoulders a lot and not totally rely on your mirrors, is this correct?
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for lane changes yes you should always look over your shoulder. The mirrors are there to allow you to keep track of cars behind you and kind of in your blind spot. So when making a lane change a head check should always be done. Just it is a good advantage to know that chances are it really pretty clear and safe to do it before hand. Plus knowing what is coming up to pass you is always good infomation to know.

It is a good habit to get into for doing the head check and something that you should always do. A lot of wrecks happen because people get foolish and do not do it and if a car happens to be in that blind spot it sucks. I had my share of close calls. Both because I neglected to check and almost being hit and normally it is because either I lost track of there car and they sat in my blind spot so I didn't know they where their and because when the person check their mirror for the change I was in the other cars blind spot.

Sum it all up ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS do a head check on lane changes.
 
iBookG4user said:
Yeah, I passed the test on my first try. I've heard that they want you to look over your shoulders a lot and not totally rely on your mirrors, is this correct?
Click to expand...

they also want you to look in your mirrors as it is suggested in the dmv handbook. make it obvious that you're doing so, otherwise you might get docked points.
 
ask your friends (and driving instructor(s)) about where to take the test.

I failed one driving test cause the &*^!@#ing testing person said I was blocking the intersection in an absurd way.

As in, I was blocking slightly more than half of the pedestrian walkway and didn't block any cars while it was a green light (for me) and she said I was blocking the intersection.

Also if you develop any nasty habits, try to iron them out way before you take the behind-the-wheel test. Although I passed on the third try (first failed on purpose..second failed because of that stupid technicality) I still got a **** ton of points docked cause the guy hated the way I turned and parked. Something about not driving with one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel...

At the DMV office i went to to take my written test..i forget where in los angeles...there were a couple of sorta ambiguous questions that i marked right, crossed out, marked wrong, crossed out, marked something else...you get the idea. The person correcting tests said I got the right idea and gave me points for those questions, outrageous :p But even if she marked them wrong I would have still passed, so i guess it doesn't matter much.
 
where i am we have to write a written test to get our "L" and we have to display a fridge magnet type thing on the back of our car, it's red and has a black L on it.
We have to keep that for 2 years now i think.(when i did it we only needed to have it for 1 year)
Then you do the drivers test and you get your "N" and you have a magnet that;s green with a black N that has to be on the back of your car.
I forget how long you have to wait, but you have to take ANOTHER road test to get your full liscence.
 
At the CT DMV you have like 8 or 16 questions and a vision test. Its incredibly easy.

Where I take drivers ed. you have to do 8 questions, a vision test, a 10 min driving test where you only have to back into a parking stop and they give you 5 tries if you really suck.
 
Legolamb said:
Like they say, be cautious, but also be relaxed. I was so nervous at my first road test I went through a stop sign. I failed. :(
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I'm not sure about with where you are, but here, when you automaticaly fail they dont' tell you, you just keep on doing the test:(

I just about automaticaly failed my "N" test by changing lanes in an intersection, but it was less of a penalty because it was a main road and the road that branched off was really small. *few* *wipe sweat off of forehead*
For the rest of the test I was sure that i'd already automaticaly failed :(
 
ebouwman, I'm in Montreal. I pretty much knew when I drove through the "Arret" I failed, because the instructor was dead quiet for the rest of the test. I struggled into a tight parallel park but at the end he told me that driving through a stop sign was an automatic fail. I'm not sure why he had me continue through the rest of the test. Maybe he was afraid of a road rage response.:rolleyes:
 
Legolamb said:
ebouwman, I'm in Montreal. I pretty much knew when I drove through the "Arret" I failed, because the instructor was dead quiet for the rest of the test. I struggled into a tight parallel park but at the end he told me that driving through a stop sign was an automatic fail. I'm not sure why he had me continue through the rest of the test. Maybe he was afraid of a road rage response.:rolleyes:
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ya, usually if you blow the stop sign you notice. I say "usually" because there are some scary drivers out there:p
 
Legolamb said:
I struggled into a tight parallel park but at the end he told me that driving through a stop sign was an automatic fail.
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here they don't make us do a parallel park like that, we don't have to park between 2 cars, just do it like a parallel park but with no car behind you.
 
florida seems a bit easy as well. i breezed through the written test, like about 10 minutes, the dmv guy says it was the fastest he had seen, but i did study for a bit. it was only 20 questions, and mostly about basic things and things. remind you, i'm 21 and this was a year and a half ago. have yet to take driving test, date taking it is still unknown, although if i have no license by summer, i'm just going to take it, as i'm getting no driving lessons at all.
 
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