DMV Driving test – My experience

I had my behind-the-wheel test last week. The test date happened to be right on my husband’s birthday. I feel so thankful that I passed the test the 1^st time and didn’t disappoint my husband and family.   Before the test, I still remember how I needed tips and words of wisdom from previous test-takers, so now, I am writing this to share a thing or two about my experience of the test, which might be of help to those who are preparing for their driving test in California, esp. in San Jose.  (Having mentioned San Jose, I meant I took the test in San Jose (SJ), not Sunnyvale, where I live, I will tell you why later.)

We can access lots of handy tips online, here I just note down a few tips that most articles do not mention or underline. These are some helpful ones that I learnt from my first-hand experience. 

1/ Test Application – Remember to have the SSN if you are eligible for one. 

Following the appointment my husband made with DMV when I was still in Vietnam, I visited the Sunnyvale DMV for the written test just a week or two after I arrived in US. At that time, I still had very little understanding of what life and driving is like here, but my husband had booked the date, so I just came for the test after cramming a night before =/ . We got up early, hurried to the venue, had a queue, waited for our turn to be served, filled in all the paperwork, then … just went home, no test =)) The reason was, I am a US resident and I had to wait for my Social Security Number to come before taking the written test. So, as a US resident, don’t go for the test until you’ve got your SSN. 

2/ The written test

- We can access a lot of materials and questions online or even do some quiz through phone apps. My husband told me he only spent about 3 hours doing some practice tests online before the test, which was enough for him to get a pass. But as for me, I am new here, so I spent time going through the CA driving handbook 2 or 3 times to get to know the rules of road here before trying some test questions online. Doing the practice test and questions online was really helpful. It reminded me of what I had read in the handbook, which was often forgettable and confusing. In the real test, some questions I had seen at home did appear and I could easily make the right choice, but sure, some questions were new to me, and I just guessed the answer :P. It’s funny that the questions I was not sure about turned out to be correct, but the ones I was more confident about were marked as wrong choice =)).

- The written test in English seems to have fewer questions about road signs compared to that in Vietnamese – What brought me to this assumption is a real fun story ;) As you may know, in California, they allow applicants to take their test in English or in some other languages including Vietnamese.  I took the test in English (‘cuz I studied the English materials), and my husband took the test in Vietnamese, also on that day =))) Here, to explain, interestingly and unexpectedly, my husband also took the written test that day, on the same day. Actually, he came with me to DMV not just for me to take the test but also for him to renew his driver’s license. He had asked the DMV in Sunnyvale and they said as for his case, no written test needed, but now when we were in San Jose, they asked him to take the written test again =)). To save time, of course, he took the test right away without preparing or reviewing anything at home, so he chose the test in Vietnamese to be on the safe side. Coming home, I compared my test and my husband’s test questions and noticed, his had about 10 or 15 questions for road signs (a long page of just pictures & pictures) while mine just included 4 or 5 for road signs and the rest was all text! :P Luckily, we both passed our written test and we both thought we had chosen the right language  =))! 

3/ Behind-the-wheel test

After the written test, I was given the driving permit. I started practice driving from home to Google, to the market, to the restaurants etc. to gain behind-the-wheel experience. But if your goal is just to cram a short time & pass the test, it would be simpler. I'll share some tips here:

- Have a good driving instructor, but if your instructor is not very good at explaining things, study more online :D. 
To save money, you can ask a family member or a friend to be your instructor. To save time, then call for teaching service! :P My friend (Dung) told me she once had a professional and humorous teacher who taught her for just 6 days, 1 hour/day with all the driving skills : from parallel parking to corner backing up.  As for my case, we once tried calling for a teacher (just a random choice online) but that guy was busy on the appointed day & then sent his young nephew as a substitute instructor. Through texting, we found out this young guy was a bad-mannered and impolite one and was late for already more than 20’. So we canceled the class and I chose to learn with my hubby only.  
So, my husband was my first and only instructor! <-- that’s what’s challenging and time-consuming here! =))) I had no idea about driving, when I didn’t know something and asked him, for example, how to park, he just said something very general like : "just play it by ears" >_< ; I asked him how to parallel park, he said something kinda : "you don’t need to practice … it is not on the test in CA" =)) So, most questions unsolved, I learnt to drive with almost no steps or … lessons =)) and blah blah blah. However, I must say thanks to my dear for many things he has done for me. He really had the guts as being my 1st driving instructor was not an easy or safe task at all ;)

- Just like any other tests, you need to know the driving performance evaluation to understand what are to be tested & required from your drive. (you can search for this form online)

- Watch videos . DMV videos & other driving lessons on Youtube are of great help: rules of road, 10 critical mistakes, the pre-test and anything you want to know: backing up, parallel parking etc. Videos and real on- the- road experience are good teachers ;)

- Choose a test center. Now to explain why I took the test in San Jose. My husband said that his friend told him that :P behind-the-wheel test in San Jose was easier (to him). His friend once failed the BTW test in Sunnyvale but on his 2nd attempt, he passed the test in San Jose. Another friend of mine also advised me to take the test in SJ because as he said, the test area was not crowded. That’s why I came to SJ for the test with the expectation that it would be easy. But some days before the test, coming to SJ and having a practice drive there, I almost lost all my confidence. Things were so different from what I had imagined, not easy at all hic. The road was busy and narrow, full of uncontrolled blind intersections, one-way streets, children running all over around, pedestrians crossing the streets both left and right… So, even now after passing the test, I’m still not sure whether the test in SJ is easier than in Sunnyvale or not. :P

- Choose test time. As I notice, doing the test in the afternoon (about 2 pm) may be easier.  We may prefer the morning sunshine, but pedestrians or children are very “active” from 8am – 1 pm & after 3pm. Luckily, we had made the appointment for the test at 1:20 pm and it turned out to be a good time to go. During my test, I saw very few pedestrians on the street :D.

- Most important! >>  Find out the test route and practice it.  From my experience, the easiest way and shortest way for you to pass the test is: Don’t just practice driving around, if you have time, go to the test center, follow some candidates on their real road test to know and get familiar with the test route. Doing this did help me a lot.

- To share with you this, I followed 3 candidates from the distance just one day before my test (it was too late when we practiced just 1 day before the test, but that’s what happened cuz my husband had been very busy). I followed 3 candidates from the far distance (without causing them any troubles) and it seemed like 3 of them all failed, hic, this was very depressing and disheartening T_T but I drew on some experience from that: - The 1st candidate was overcautious, she drove too slow under the speed limit and the examiner just let her drive a different route, or just a half way. - The 2nd candidate appeared to fail because on backing up, he hit the curb, which was a critical error. - The 3rd candidate drove not bad but surprisingly, at the end of the test, in the car, we saw the examiner talking to her and she was crying. That scene was so heartbreaking and stressful. Recalling her drive, I guessed she failed because she did not smoothly yield to the pedestrians coming from the opposite corner as she turned right on green! (pedestrians & green lights are very dangerous during the drive test!) :) 

- Even though there are no exact routes and examiners may vary the roads, from my experience, the test route (of my test center) seems to cover these: residential areas, school zones, a one-way street, a large street with many lanes (for lane changing)... So, practice and make sure you know the speed limits and different kinds of hazards (uncontrolled traffic lights, stop signs, one-way streets etc.) along the route.

- Don’t expect the examiner to be friendly. Don’t feel discouraged & blow the entire drive even if the examiner yells at you or interferes with your driving. I had been there. It was a long story that needed explanation, but this entry is getting too long, so I'm not giving the details here. Just say, whatever happens, just keep driving the best you can, stay calm, sane and safe. Sometimes, an examiner may not be very nice or friendly but he/she still gives you a pass, and be careful of the opposite case :D. 

If you are new to driving and are preparing for your driving test just like me some time ago, hope the above sharing can help.

As for me, passing the test is not the end of my driving learning process. I need to learn more and drive more to build up more understanding and experience.

 (Pic in late September 2013, 1st time I entered freeways :/ )

Some memories :

- I will remember : the image of my husband in his ugly shorts and slippers :D jumping into his car and he himself driving me home when I first arrived in the US.  (It was so cool then - when I first came here. Now it’s become normal :P.)   

- I will remember : when I first practiced parking, I was so glad after successfully squeezing the car into such a narrow spot that I just lifted my foot off the brake & forgot to set the hand brake to parking position. The car therefore ran on uncontrollably & hit the curb. Our hearts all jumped out of our chests =)

- I will remember : we did quarrel a lot, but now I don't want to remember what the quarrels were about...


- I will remember : During my driving test, someone was there waiting for me… 

- I will remember : At the end of my driving test, someone greeted me with eyes of hopes, 

- I will remember : someone that warmly opened the door for me, grinned with delight and said congratulations...

& many other memories ... ;)