Driving Points
- ALWAYS use mirror and LOOK over your left shoulder when making turns…especially left turns. This is to prevent you hitting a cyclist who might be on your inside, and that you may not have picked up in your mirror.
- Drive close to the left.
- If the S-crank is on your left, position the car more to the right of the lane you will be turning from (i.e. to enter the S, do not be in the extreme left of the lane you are turning from). Entering the S from this wider position, will give you enough room to make the first turn, without your back wheel going over the edge. You shouldn’t have too much problem, if the S is on your right….i.e., if you will be crossing over a lane to get into the S.
- For the S-crank, you have 3 attempts to clear the barrier, so if you see where you are going to hit the barrier, reverse (use mirror and LOOK OVER SHOULDER) and try again. Don’t hit the barrier!
Please note, that for the first attempt, they don’t deduct any points, but for the second and third attempts, you will lose points. There is no 4th attempt.
Other Odd Points
- Saying ‘shitsureishimasu’ before entering the car couldn’t hurt.
- Check that your back seat passenger and your examiner are in their seatbelts.
- Repeat/acknowledge the directions given by the examiner, eg. ‘migi, hai’
- If possible, try to get any number from 2 up, in the sequence for the driving assignment. This allows you to drive in the back seat at least once where you can observe the mistakes of the person before you and note how you should approach certain areas.
- Drive confidently. Speed up on the straight, within the speed limit of course. Even though your heart may be pounding, make a conscious effort to will yourself to be calm. But still, don’t get overly confident at the end and fail yourself. Take your time to align the car with the post told to you and park close to the curb.
- Walk the course before and breathe deep if that’s what helps to calm your nerves.