Road Test Information

Being Prepared for the Road Test

On the day you take your Class D road test, you must fulfill several requirements:

1. Have a completed road test application, and have your parent or guardian complete the Parental consent section if you are under age 18. In completing the application for the road test, you will be required to disclose whether you have a physical, mental, or medical condition or are taking any medications that might affect your ability to operate a motor vehicle. If you do, prior to taking a road test, you must submit medical clearance, from your physician, to a Branch manager. The Road Test Examiner will review your application and either approve it or forward it to the Medical Affairs Branch for appropriate review.
2. Have your learner’s permit - must be in good condition. If any information is missing or can’t be read, you will be rejected from the test.
3. Bring a qualified sponsor (see the Sponsor Requirements section). Driving Instructor will act as a sponsor if you are taking road test with the driving school.
4. Provide an acceptable, properly equipped, legally registered vehicle to use in your test. (see the Passenger Vehicle Requirements section). You will be using a school car if you are taking it with the driving school.

If you are between 16 1/2 and 18 years old, you must have a driver’s education certificate electronically on file with the RMV from a licensed driving school or a high school program that is approved by the Registrar before you can schedule a road test. As part of the road test application, your parent or guardian must certify and sign, on the front of your license application, that you have also completed 12 hours of driving supervised by a licensed driver aged 21 or over.

Note: If your learner’s permit was issued on or after September 1, 2007, your parent or guardian must participate in two hours of the driver’s education curriculum (unless he/she has already attended within the past five years). You must also complete 40 hours of parent-supervised driving (30 hours if you completed a driver skills development program), pass a driver’s education final exam, and have a driver’s education certificate electronically on file with the RMV.

Note: Even if you had a clean driving record for six consecutive months immediately preceding the date you first booked the road test, if the RMV receives notice of an event that would cause the six-month clean driving period to be interrupted between the date the test was booked and the date of the test itself, you will not be allowed to take the road test when scheduled. A new clean driving record of at least six months will have to be established, unless you reach 18 years of age prior to that time.

Passenger Vehicle Test Procedures

You should arrive approximately five minutes early for your scheduled road test appointment.

You will not be able to take your test if you are late.

Before your road test, the RMV examiner will inspect your vehicle to ensure that it is properly registered, that all equipment is in good working order, and that the vehicle provides a safe, adequate, and clean seat for the examiner and easy access to the brake.

After the examiner inspects and approves the vehicle, the driving test will begin. Only you, the examiner, and your sponsor are allowed in the vehicle during the exam. The examiner will sit in the seat next to you; your sponsor must sit in the rear. No children or pets are allowed. If the examiner so authorizes, a language interpreter may also be allowed in the vehicle. You and your sponsor are not allowed to converse unless authorized by the examiner.

The examiner’s goal is to observe your driving performance. During a road test, you should be prepared to demonstrate your ability to:

• Use hand signals
• Start the engine
• Start and stop the vehicle
• Parallel Park
• Back the vehicle approximately 50 feet
• Make left - right turns
• Start, stop, and turn the vehicle on a hill
• Turn around between curbs (three point turn)
• Enter and leave intersections
• Recognize and obey traffic signs, lights and signals, and other rules of the road
• Use good driving sense

In addition to judging your overall driving skills, the examiner will note how well you follow general good-driving procedures, including whether you:

• Use good driving posture, with both hands always placed properly on the wheel
• Drive in the proper lane and look carefully and signal properly before changing lanes
• Maintain enough distance between your vehicle and the one ahead of you
• Always drive at safe speeds to comply with speed limits and varying traffic conditions
• Properly yield the right-of-way
• Are generally aware of your actions and particularly those of other drivers.

Common Reasons for Failing a Road Test

• You were at fault in an accident with another motor vehicle, pedestrian, or object.
• You were driving in a way that may have caused an accident or in a way the examiner considered dangerous.
• You violated a motor vehicle law, rule, or regulation.
• You demonstrated a lack of experience safely operating a motor vehicle.
• You refused to follow or drove contrary to the examiner’s instructions.

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