Road test for a driver's license in Mass.

[dethlyhallows]

Hello!

I will be having my road test this wednesday in Mass. and am kinda freaking out. I have confidence in my driving but I am just lost at what the instructor might ask of me. I have looked on youtube for videos and such.

Could anyone share an advice or their road test(s) and things to watch out for?

Thank you!

EDIT#1: Did the instructor ask of you to go to the Highway, do they drive in commercial areas or do they take you to calm neighborhoods? How long was the drive and on the pre-test did they ask of you anything other than to physically (with your hand) signal stop, and right & left turn. Where the de-froster(?), the wiper, and signal lights were (the switches)? & Also does the car being registered (having the registration paper) prove insurance or do I need a paper from my dad's insurance?

Once again, Thank you!

EDIT#2: Was anyone asked to back-up the car for 50 meters of something alongside the curb?

EDIT#3: Yea, I am unfamiliar with the city that the test will be taken at. Like I've never been there. I just think that I am rushing it but at the same time I am ready... I don't want to delay it any longer, ya know? I am just nervous for the backing up and parallel but other than that.. psshhht!

[WskyDK]

I have confidence in my driving

This. Keep this.
Also, just do what they ask of you, and you'll be fine. Expect parallel parking, 3 point turn, merging on and off highways, questions about traffic signals/lights.
Oh, PAY ATTENTION TO SPEED LIMIT SIGNS.
I know when I took mine, they instructor chose a route in which the speed limit changed about every half mile (no jake, I hate AZ roads some times)
Take the time to adjust your mirrors and such too.

GOod luck!

[Twotonsteak]

I've taken two road tests here in PA. (One for my license, one because I let my license lapse.) The best advice I can give you is to know ALL the rules and follow them to the "t." Part of my first test was in a mall parking lot. I stopped, literally, two-feet short of a stop sign because a group of people stepped in front of me. After they passed I continued on. I failed the test because I did not continue on for two feet then stop again.

And stay calm. The driving part is actually easy. It's "blanking" on the technical aspect, things like locating the lights or parrelel parking, because you're nervous that will get you.

Finally research the testing locations first. All states have multiple testing locations and some really are better than others. The closest location to me, for my second test, was in the middle of a congested strip-mall, right next to a McDonalds. It was always a snarled mess, traffic wise, and the "course" was poorly marked. I did some research and found another location a little further away where the test was done in a low-traffic area with a well-defined course.

[dethlyhallows]

This. Keep this.
Expect parallel parking, 3 point turn, merging on and off highways, questions about traffic signals/lights.

GOod luck!

Yea that's what my friends were telling me that I should treat it like an interview (I go to Harvard and I have had a couple nerve wrecking ones).
Questions? ow hell no! I think I'll do good with the 3 point and parallel, I've never driven on a highway, yet. Questions? realllyyyyyyy?

[Nayelie]

Speed limit signs. Always fully stop at stop signs. Check all your mirrors.

[Reeve]

I can't speak to Massachusetts, but my driving test was basically just drive on the road, parallel park, talk to the drive a bit, don't hit anything (including a curb), and make sure that your eyes are always scanning the road. I got dinged back when I was 16 (God, 13 years ago now) because I wasn't flicking my eyes back and forth the whole damn time.

[smelltheglove]

my driving test was a joke. but i dont know about how they are in mass. does bring to mind a joke a friend told me. he took his in new york, and claimed that part of the test was proving you could drive hanging out of the window flipping the bird and screaming at the top of one's lungs

[drwelfare]

I took mine in a Crown Vic which is a poor choice. I did piss poor bad and they still padded me.

[Liagala]

EDIT#1: Did the instructor ask of you to go to the Highway, do they drive in commercial areas or do they take you to calm neighborhoods? How long was the drive and on the pre-test did they ask of you anything other than to physically (with your hand) signal stop, and right & left turn. Where the de-froster(?), the wiper, and signal lights were (the switches)? & Also does the car being registered (having the registration paper) prove insurance or do I need a paper from my dad's insurance?

I got my license in MA. It was a fair mix of relatively busy roads and quiet back roads. No highway. The test itself was pretty short - maybe 10 minutes start to finish. I don't remember whether I had to signal stop/right/left, but there was not a whole lot of pre-trip stuff at all. Partway through the test the officer realized that the side mirrors were pointing almost straight at the sky (it was my grandfather's car and I was too nervous to check that). He asked me if I could see with them like that and I, being all panicked, said yes. I still passed. Yes, your registration is proof of insurance.

EDIT#2: Was anyone asked to back-up the car for 50 meters of something alongside the curb?

No, but I was asked to back into a parking space between 2 other cars. Other than that it was mostly driving around a few blocks - nothing else required much coordination. My cousin (also in Mass) failed his test the first time for going over the curb a little when he took a right turn too tightly. A friend of mine failed for not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign.

[Barrowmore]

For me, failing the first time helped. I knew exactly what the test was for the second time and passed.

[Deleted]

My advice that got me through it is this.
If you don't succeed you're not fit to drive atm. If nerves break it for you then you're not meant to have it.
If you get it, congrats. If not, keep practising.
Thats actually what I thought. I almost crapped my pants out of nerves(didnt help I got there one hour early). But then I thought what I wrote above to myself and calmed down. I had to do quite a lot. City, one way direction roads, high way, parallel parking and lots more. But since I was calm and knew what to do we were done quite fast. Only used 30 min of the 40 reserved for the test.
Oh, taken in Sweden.

[Silhouette of Seraphim]

It will be like anything else in Massachusetts.

Horrible. Simply horrible.

[Reeve]

Main thing for highway I think is probably making sure you accelerate to the speed of traffic before you get to the merge point. Nothing worse than someone getting on the freeway at 35 MPH and THEN accelerating.

[Deleted]

Our driving tests are a bit different in the UK (A theory and practical test), but keep calm, follow the speed limit and follow the instructions of the invigilator and you should be fine. I passed my theory test the second time round and passed the practical test the first time, I was a little nervous at first but it was over before I knew it.

[Sam the Wiser]

I live in MA and well I've simply been to lazy to get my license yet but if my blind aunty can do it you can!

[smelltheglove]

Main thing for highway I think is probably making sure you accelerate to the speed of traffic before you get to the merge point. Nothing worse than someone getting on the freeway at 35 MPH and THEN accelerating.

or worse. ive had people come to a complete stop at the end of the ramp, when there was no reason to

[frogger237]

When I went to get my drivers test, the instructor used me as a get away driver for a bank robbery. Suffice to say I didn't get my drivers license that day but the cops that caught us said I did a great job of driving and after it was sorted out that I was an unwilling accomplice, I was able to get my drivers test and my license a month later.

Every instructor is different and some may require you to more things than others. They may also perceive you as doing worse or better depending on the people the took before you. The lady that went before me had failed 4 times(with this being her 4th) so I was really nervous but ended up doing really well.

[Blueobelisk]

They won't ask you to go on the highway, at least they didn't in New York. Don't expect it but even so just look in your mirror and take a glance at your blind spot and you're good to go if you do. I get on the highway every day in crazy traffic and on a short ramp.

No way will they ask you to back up lol. This is USA, no one but scientists and foreigners even know what a meter is, so no one is going to ask you to back up 50 of them.

[Deleted]

I don't know if this goes from state to state... but i know the test in New Jersey was an absolute joke for my niece compared to how they do it here in The Netherlands. Much cheaper too!

[Olianda]

Overexaggerate. When you look left before you merge for example, make sure it's obvious you looked left. The last thing you need is to get marked down for something you did correctly but was missed by the test-giver.

Up in MN, that's the advice that was given to me.