American Reacts To a REAL Australian Driving Test 

Did YOU Pass Your Driving Test the 1st time??

I made all of my kids learn in a manual, that way it doesn't matter what car they get into, they can drive it.

In New Zealand, and I'm sure in Australia too, you can't even start learning behind the wheel until you have passed the theory test...the reasoning is you need to know the road rules even when learning to drive. Then in NZ you need to wait six months before you can sit a practical driving test and if you pass, you get a restricted license. This license allows you to drive unsupervised, but you can't dive with other passengers (unless one has had a full license for over 2 years), and you can't dive certain hours during the night and you can't have any alcohol. After 18 months on a restricted you can go for a full license which involves another driving test, but this one more focuses on your abilities to drive defensively and identify the risks, it's up to the testing officer to make a judgement call on whether or not you have gained enough skills and are safe enough to have a full (unrestricted) license.

In the 70s I was failed on my 1st test for avoiding a collision! A car came through a give way sign so I stopped. The examiner failed me saying I should not have stopped as the other car had a give way sign. I was so angry and let him know it.

As an Aussie, that was definitely the same test I did. The instructor that was testing me was asking me questions about my job and we were laughing and smiling throughout my test (but of course we were both serious when it came to doing anything that was being marked e.g. Parking). I passed first go and he said I did a good job and the first thing I did afterwards was go through a Maccas Drive Thru with my sister who was kind enough to wait an hour by herself at the RTA (DMV) whilst I did my test and got all of the paperwork sorted out

I passed my driving test first go. One of the roads that the instructor took me on, I was heading out of town and the cops were doing random breath testing. So I got pulled over within the first 10 minutes of my test. The cop who pulled me over said he’d make sure he would let the officers know on the opposite side of the road, to not pull me over when I would drive back into town. My driving instructor was excited that I got pulled over during my test, it mustn’t happen often haha.

He may look like he's going slow to you, because our limit is 50kph in residential streets. Manual is still the standard for our licence, in fact, if you take your test in an automatic cars you get an automatic only license and it gets marked on your license. Our school zones usually have flashing signs when they are active.

Automatic license means you cant drive a manual on public roads

I love 'roundabouts'. If the choice is between a set of traffic lights or a roundabout, I'll take roundabout every single time. and YES I passed my test the 1st time (although I stalled it twice while attempting the 'hill-start',(manual car) the instructor just told me to "give it some more gas" and he was pretty cool about it)

I passed mine the first time. When I got back to the RTA the tester went inside without talking to me. My instructor was like did you pass, I said no idea. The tester called me up and said come and sign this. I went over and it was my license. I was so happy. The tester was not a nice man who hardly ever passed people on the first go. That was 1988. A lot easier back then to what they need to do now.

I'm surprised how many people in the comments remember their tests so clearly. I mean it was only 8-9 years ago that I had done mine, but I can't remember anything about it haha What worries me is that a fair majority of my mates from High School forged nearly all of their hours, my parents made sure I did all of them and more. I remember my grandad telling me about when he got his license in the 50's, all they had to do was drive around town for 10 minutes with the local police officer to prove they were competent enough to drive.

This driving lesson was in a country town so often the students get to deal with different other traffic than in busy city.

In the UK, if you pass your test in a manual car, your license covers you for both transmissions. However, if you pass in an automatic, your licence will have Auto written on it, which restricts the driver to automatic only

The US word "tire" actually means "weary" in Australia and tyre means the rubber part of the wheel.

I took my driving test in the UK in a 1947 Jowett Bradford Van with 3 speed crash gearbox with no synchromesh (double de clutch for every gear change) That would challenge people today. That was 61 years ago. Failed the first time. Second time the car stalled after an emergancy bracking test I had to get out and restart the car with the crank handle, Now i drive mainly automatics.

Regularly have a huntsman crawl out from under the bonnet and run across my windscreen while driving. Really gets your heart racing!

In NSW at least, there’s no mandatory driving school for cars, however you must keep a log book and meet a minimum of 120 hours of driving. The use of driving schools are encouraged by allowing a 1hr lesson to count for 3 logbook hours. There are mandatory courses for getting a motorcycle licence

That’s very clearly a country town - from the quiet streets and lack of traffic lights to the cattle trucks!

if you want to drive manual, you must pass driving test in a manual gear boxed car. which allows you to drive both manual and auto .

You mentioned the school zones. In NSW the school zones are active during school days, 8am to 9.30am and 2.30pm to 4 pm and the speed drops down to 40 km/ hr. I bought a new car 4 years ago with this wiz bang navigation system. When I drove it out of the showroom after the purchase was finalised, I didn’t realise everything on the navigation system was turned on. I accidentally sped 5 km over the speed limit “Obey all traffic rules” by the voice of the system. Worse was to come. I passed 2 schools on the way home. One had a roundabout on the corner where the school zone stops on one side of the roundabout and starts again around the corner. I discovered no matter the time of day or night, weekend or school holidays, the voice of my navigation system would announce “You are approaching a school zone….you are entering a school zone….you are exiting a school zone.” I got this 3 times in 5 minutes. It took me 2 months to work out how to turn this function off.

I passed my driving test on my first try in Australia 6 years ago. The weather was shocking. It was pouring rain, and the roads were flooded. I think the instructor said that I was the first person she passed that day. She did go easy on me though (I did the 3-point U turn on a quiet street that wasn't flooded), and I passed with flying colors. Manual is optional. The test is in the student's car. If you want to get a manual license (which allows you to drive both manual & automatic cars), then you need to pass the driving test in a manual car. If not, then you can use an automatic car. Either way once you are no longer on a probationary license, you can drive either. Spiders are also incredibly slow moving, so it isn't really something to worry too much about - just pull over and get rid of it with a tissue. And our school zones have a speed limit of 40KM/h (25mph), but they usually apply 24/7 (except on main roads).

I got my car license in 1980 in NSW. It was just like the video you reviewed. Back then we could practice in either a manual or auto and do the test in either. Some time after, maybe in the '90s, if learners turned up for the test in an auto then their license was restricted to them only driving an auto.Two years later I went and did my test for a motorbike license. The bike test was easy and went like this: Examiner leans on someone's car. "Start yer bike, go around the block back to here and do a u-ee and park across the road and come see me." I asked him if he was going to be following me and he said "No. If you come back in one piece you've passed." About 6 years ago I needed to get a HR licence and drive for a year. A heavy rigid is a truck with 3 or more axles which includes prime movers without an articulated trailer (a 5th wheel trailer). I found a driving school, did a week of training on a heavy rigid with an Eaton Fuller 18 speed crash box. I then went for the test and passed. Because I did the test with a crash box there were no restrictions or conditions on my license. If I turned up for the test in a normal synchromesh manual transmission then I would have been restricted to a normal manual gear-boxed truck. Having an unrestricted license meant that I could lease a truck with a crash-box. There were plenty of these on the used truck market cheap because there were less people who could drive them, which is the reason I chose to train on a crash box. I ended up leasing a prime mover which had been re-engineered to extend the chassis to convert it into a curtainsider (Tautliner). Being a prime mover meant I had 6x4 wheel drive. The overall rigid truck length was 10.2 metres not including the dog trailer. With the dog trailer it was just under 19 metres with a GCM of 31 tonnes. The truck I had was a Mitsubishi Fuso FV547 6×4 Curtainsider 320 hp 2200 NM torque Twin Tubo 13 Speed o/d Roadranger Fuso diffs on airbag suspension GVM 22 tonnes GCM 31 tonnes. So in a nutshell within a week I went from driving a car to driving a 19 metre (62 feet) 31 tonne truck on the road. A year after holding a HR license you can go for a HC (Semi) or MC (Multiple dog trailers, Road Trains).

I know this vide is 2 months old, but figured I would chim in. Watching this video, the 'Frank Spice Holden' was what told me which state it is, which is New South Wales. Can't say much about how they do it over there, but it varies between the east coast and here in Western Australia. Here in Western Australia, there are 2 'CAR' licenses, there is 'CAR (C)' and 'CAR AUTOMATIC (CA)'. When you go for your learners permit, you have to tell the Department of Transport officer that serves you, which of the 2 you are going for, if you apply for a CA learners permit, you can't learn in a manual car, if you apply for a C learners permit, you can learn in a manual and an automatic. It's especially relevant for when you go for your actual driving test. Once you have your P's (Provisional license) which is basically a full license but with restrictions, you are limited to what your license says, either C or CA. School zones are 40km/hr here in WA, and they have a morning and afternoon timeslot, outside of those 2 timeslots, you can travel at the normal speed of the road, which is generally 60km/hr but could be 50km/hr or 70km/hr. The parellel parking that the person did would be considered a 'Reverse Parallel Parking' here in WA, as opposed to just parallel parking. In terms of orientation of the front wheels when parking on an incline, you always want the front of the frontwheels turned into the left kerb, the idea is that if your car rolls forward, it will roll forward into the kerb, and if it rolls backwards, it will roll backwards into the kerb. If you have the front wheels turned to the right, depending on how far from the kerb you are (the legal distance is 43cm or 16 inches), there is a chance that your vehicle won't hit the kerb when it rolls backwards, but if the front wheels are always turned towards the kerb, the backwheels will always roll into the kerb. When taking the test (At least here in WA), it depends on which region or local government area (Where they have a department of transport) that you take the test as to what they will get you do. At the DoT that I took mine at, there are some hills, so I had to do a hill start, if I had taken it at the DoT that was 30min south of where I live, instead of this one 30min north of where I live, I wouldn't have had to do a hill start at all because they have no hills).

I have to say that the 120 hours of supervised driving (20 hours at night) that learners do in my State today is way more than I did as a learner back in 1970. I passed the parallel parking, driving and eye test with flying colours but had to be prompted with “… and” three times by the policeman testing me on one of the questions from the Road Rules Manual. After that I got a total of 20 verbally answered questions because of course the missing part of the answer to that question was to “notify the police if there was damage to property or person”. My instructor said that he had never had a student driver get asked so many questions from the Manual before. Nowadays I think it may be harder to stuff up because the Road Rules section of the License test is now a multiple choice screen test so at last you have a visual prompt in front of you but maybe someone younger to confirm if that is part of gaining the Learner Permit of and/or the License Test.

Just a side note When you get to Mailtime, I include a couple of Learner's "L" plates and two Red (first 2,years) and Two Green (3rd year) Provisional "P" plates in our box.

In NZ, if you take your restricted (10pm curfew, no passengers) license test in an auto, then you can't drive a manual. But once you have your full license, you can drive either no matter what you took the tests in.

This is in Forbes, NSW. A very pretty town of about 6,000 people, about 375km (233 miles) West of Sydney. If you take your driving test in an automatic, your license is restricted to automatic cars until you are off your probationary licemse (first 4 years). Then you can drive a manual.

I took my driving test in 81, 5 lessons and 1 theoretical and practical driving test. Then I got an extended 2 week winter driving course and a few years later I was taught defensive and offensive driving techniques as part of my job as security detail. Back then automatics were mostly used by handicapped people, manual gear driving was most common. I also passed my PPL in first try.

One thing I remember from my test (I had manual cars for years) was that the examiner was very encouraging about the parallel park, telling me how his wife still drives around and around looking for a parking spot because she won't do them. It was on a very steep hill, followed by a 3 point turn to head back down the other way. He was much nicer than the first examiner who failed me because I didn't look over my shoulder to his satisfaction. That and the fact that the only instructor I had was my Dad and I also suspect cos I was a teenage girl. I also remember my first few lessons learning how to use the clutch and finding the concept of having to watch the road, steer the car, and then do a dance with my feet and change gears very daunting. Surprising how quickly it just becomes a non-conscious activity.

Wow I'm jealous of how simple this driving test was. I'm not sure about other states in Aus, but in WA you have to execute everything basically perfectly on the test to pass. I got my license 2 years ago, and had been many years delayed in getting my license because I'd had to move away from my hometown for uni and had to save up for professional lessons, and also had a traumatic driving lesson experience which meant I didn't sit in the driver's seat for 3 years after that experience. So I spent $3000 on driving lessons in 2021, booked a test with a 3 month wait, then failed on the first test because of a dumb blip in parking. Not having a license had also been a barrier to me starting my career, and I was close to running out of money, so failing my test was devastating. Had to pay $100 to retake the test, passed it, and I hugged my driving instructor and sobbed. I'm now on my full license but only just recently saved up enough to buy my first car at 27. My brother has been ready to take his driving test for about a year now but WA's Department of Transport test booking system is fucked, no one can book any tests because they're all booked out to the maximum in advance, and there's possibly people who have designed bots to book up cancellations so he can't even get those.

11:28 always turn the wheels into the curb, not away regardless of the direction, if your car is too far from the curb, your car will roll and turn into the intersection. Turn them into the curb so the car always rolls into the curb and not into traffic. HOWEVER, this is not a requirement in Australia, i.e. they will not penalise you for not doing it, and there are good reasons not to do this, i.e. seals etc.

When I learned the class of license I got was "A" class (since changed to "C" class) but it means I can drive any vehicle seating up to 12 passengers. Manual or Auto transmission (Gross weight

There’s a trick they use to fail you, when the test is done when you leave the Motor Registry there’s a Stop sign when leaving, most fail there....😊

Another great video Ian, love the channel mate. Can't wait to see you trackside at Bathurst one day. Thanks for the work you do for the channel all the work pays off on this side of the TV, so great work mate, you make me proud to be an Aussie.

A few comments on the commentary: 1 - I noticed almost immediately that the driver has a small after market HUD on the dash displaying the speed (in Km/h) onto the windscreen and for the first 10 or so minutes he barely went over 40km/h (approx 25 miles/h) which would be due to suburban limits usually being a max of 50km/h (or 31 mile/h) in most NSW suburban built up areas except for main roads (which range from 60km/h or 37 mile/h to 80 km/h or 59 mile/h) 2 - School zones Part A - during designated school days (at least in NSW where this was filmed) have a 40km/h (or 25 mile/h) limit for about 1 1/2 hours in the morning and afternoon (usually 8am - 9:30am and 2:30pm - 4pm). 2 - School zones Part B - The normal road speed limit can be anything from a 50km/h (31 mile /h) to 100+km/h (62+ mile/h) limit, depending where in the country it is... and yes I've personally seen a regional school on a main road in the middle of nowhere that was in a 100km/h zone, and the length of the zone itself was only about 200 metres ( 218 yards) in length, with insufficient warning signs in advance for a road train to slow down in time unless they were used to the area and started slowing down 1-2km beforehand. 2 - School zones Part C - Suburban (city) school zones can range from about 100 metres (109 yards) to 1 km in length depending on how many schools are in the school zone area. Eg a local public high school (yrs 7-12) near where I live on the local highway (normal speed zone of 60 km/h) has a school zone (40km/h) that is about 300-400 metres long, which is the length of the school property facing onto the highway, whilst a local private (catholic) high school (yrs 7-12) has a zone that is about 1km long (the school is at the end of the road, and the zone starts at the local train station which the road passes). There are also 2 infant/primary schools (one public, one private) that are next to each other on a back suburban street, and have a single school zone of about 500 metres in length covering both of them. 3 - Pharmacy ... just a point of interest, Pharmacies in Australia are completely different to the US ones.... they would resemble what American's call a "drug store" and do not sell alcohol normally (you would only find a pharmacy selling alcohol in a small country town where there are only 2-3 shops and are multi-purpose due to their small size). Additionally our supermarkets also do not sell alcohol, but they are usually next door to a specific "grog" shop retailer (which is usually owned by the supermarket company and runs as a separate business). 4 - Automatic vs Manual (or "stick" as known in the US) - When a learner wants to do their test, they can either do the test in a manual or an auto, BUT, (at least in NSW) if they do it in an Auto then the license is stamped with an "A" meaning that they cannot drive a manual unsupervised whilst they are on their Provisional 1 (P1) license which they hold for a minimum 12 months. Once they get their Provisional 2 (P2) license the A is removed and they are free to drive manuals. NOTE - Provisional license means they can drive unsupervised, but it does have various restrictions. 5 - Commentary at 11 mins about parking on a slope (I saw the video to be an incline/uphill scenario but I could be wrong).. you commented that he would need to turn the wheel to the right which would roll the car into the middle of the road if the handbrake gave way... the correct method would be turning the wheel to the left instead (to roll into the gutter), but this was never part of the driving test/requirements when I did my test in the early 90's and I suspect is still the case today as a requirement to pass the test. 6 - Parallel park..... I had to do it on a narrow road, followed immediately by a 3 point turn (ended up being a 4-5 point turn due to how narrow the road was and the cars parked on both sides) How did I go when I did my test? I passed on first attempt, something not even my professional driving instructor expected I would manage to do

As a person living in urban WA, our steps are: 1. Pass the theory test - I was able to do mine in school before I was even eligible to drive but I think normally it’s done at the licensing centre when you apply. 2. Apply for learners permit at 16+. 3. Pass the hazard test at 6 months on learners permit - Watching videos where you click a button when you feel the driver should’ve breaked. 4. Driving test - You need to be age 17+ and 50+ hours of driving practice must be completed. For the driving test we normally have: - Busier street driving (intersections, roundabouts, etc.) - Residential street driving - Parking in a car park - “Leave and return” - Parking beside a random house, driving away and being told to return to the same house in the same parking position at the soonest possible location to turn around (e.g. a driveway). - Reverse parallel if there’s an opportune space between two cars (you don’t do it if the instructor can’t find one) - 3 chances for small mistakes, any bigger mistake/instructor having to intervene physically or verbally is an instant fail Once you pass you’re on red Ps for 6 months with some speed, curfews and other restrictions, then another 18 months on green Ps which is looser on the restrictions.

Very interesting Ian! I failed my first tesr because of vertigo, which caused a brain freeze!! My tester insisted on the steepest street in the area and the car was manual and borrowed, from then on the stress was high to finish perfectly! My last test was a parallel park and then a U-turn, executed beautifully in heavy rain! His last comment at the end was "any idea what windshield wipers are for"! Fail.👎

in Finnland you can drive your license with manual or automatic transmission but if you drive it with automatic you are not allowed to drive manual cars, so many people just drive the test with manual even if they know that they are maybe never going to need to drive manual again. Personaly I drive manual because older cars are usually manual and as an student i don't have the money to buy new car right now. (edit: english is not my first language so there might be mistakes but I do not have the intrest to try to find them)

17:49 My awareness test was done in the form of brand new well-modelled 3D flash animations and answering questions there. My written test was just a online quiz module.

so in New South Wales, the process to get your full license is as follows: - a multiple choice test to get your learner permit or L's - need to complete a log book of over 100 hours in day, night, wet and dry driving and hold the license for 12 months - once the above is completed you need to do a hazard perception test. - once the above is completed you can then go for your red p's which is what the test is in this video. - you drive around with an instructor and do a bunch of driving tests as well as gauge how well you understand the road rules. - you need to retain the red p's for 1 year. - once you complete that you can go for your green p's which are kept for another 2 years. - once all the above is completed and you do not loose all your demerit points you are then can apply for your full licence.

Back in my day (90s) when I got my licence, it didn't matter what you did your test in, you were then able to drive whatever car you wanted - be it auto or manual. These days I've heard that they print on your licence if you learnt in an auto or manual. Something to that effect.

This must be the easiest test anyone could ever get. I don't see how this student was actually being tested in a challenging environment and still he ended up on the wrong side of the road.

As an Australian local, I can tell you that, if you do automatic, you have to stay in your auto car until you finish your first round of licence, which is the red P's or P1 licence, once you get on your Green P's or P2, you can choose to drive a manual

Having lost my license many times I have had some fun doing the test again . One idiot told me I had failed before we got back to the office so I took him for a ride , he screamed .

Here in the Netherlands you can get an "automatic" licence where you are only allowed to drive automatic gearbox cars. Though almost everyone i know gets the regular drivers licence where you take the test in a manual.

In 1982 you sat a learner's test to get your L plates. Purely academic. Once you had your learners, you could book an instructor. The amount of driving with an instructor was dependent on how quick you learnt before you sat the test & you were of course 18 yrs old. If you went for a manual test, you got an automatic licence as well but not the other way round. With an instructor I passed every reverse parking. I did my learning in Brunswick, north of Melbourne. It had everything, narrow roads, laneways, tram tracks, busy streets. The test you had to get 70/100 to pass. Well, I stuffed up the parallel parking, nervous as shit after that. Got the trams, narrow roads etc. I failed 67/100. The second time I passed the reverse parking, then peak period through Brunswick going well, then my gears slipped. Took me a minute or two to realise what had happened and corrected it. Back at the station, he said if He had to tell me what I had to do I would have failed. Success, I passed. My score 73/100. Got home, got in my car and drove into the city and practiced for hours. Freedom!!!!!!!!

Definitely a country town - much more traffic to deal with in the cities. And remember that in most states in Australia you can't get your licence until you're 18 (still stressful though)

Here in SA back in the '70s getting your license was very different to now. Your instructor could be anyone with a full license, don't know it there was a minimum number of practice hours you had to have, a police officer conducted the driving test, and there was no "P" plate (provisional license). In my case I passed the written test with 100%, Dad was my instructor and he insisted that I learn on a manual even though there was no difference in the license if you learnt on a manual or automatic. During the test the cop heard my muttering under my breath when I made the odd mistake and at the end of the test, he listed the things I did incorrectly and then said "but with that, I'll still give you a pass". So, I passed first go, this annoyed my sister as she had to take a second test before passing, to be fair, on her first test she an older cop who was well known for never passing female drivers on their first test.

We don't have classes (like sit down in a classroom). We either drive around with an adult for a certain amount of hours, and/or we can choose to take professional driving lessons in a car.

A painted dotted line painted on the road is a give way intersection, a solid line indicates stop. Give way and stop signs aren’t always present due to a number of reasons

Aussie here, did my Learners test in 2009 (you get your Learners via an online test, drive with an open licensed driver (usually mum or dad) then do the driving test at the end of 1 year (+100 hours (80 day/20 night) then go on provisional 1 which allows you to drive on your own), i remember being so ready for it, cuz my mum got me above 200 hours, made me drive backwards around a new estate (no houses built yet, just roads) and got me 5 lessons with an instructor to clean up any bad habits she taught me. Was great and passed on the first try. Manual v Auto depends on state. for eg, NSW you learn and drive on one OR the other until your open license, then you can drive either. QLD, if you learn auto, you are only allowed to drive manual after you do a class cuz their L/P1/P2/Open license specifies if its A or M. I had to do multiple things: hill start, reverse parallel park, U-turn and three point turn. We don't have to turn the wheels when doing a hill start in an auto (cannot say for Manual). We depress break, park, handbrake on, turn off car, turn on car, depress break pedal, change to gear, and then ease on accelerator while removing the hand break. I avoid parallel parking at all costs XD. School zones absolutely have a specified limit during certain times on school days. 40km/h between 7am-9am and 2pm-4pm. Built up areas/suburbs are 50km/h with main roads at 60km/h. Some main roads in QLD in built up areas can have speeds up to 70km/h but they need to be long stretches of road with little to no bends. 80 km/h for the main dual carriage way between suburbs and towns, and then highways sit around 100/110km/h. (There's one highway coming into Darwin that is 130km/h however). He would have lost a mark turning into the oncoming lane, but I don't think its a fail. There are two sections the instructor has to tick off. The top section, if you get a cross, instant fail. Bottom section, I think you're allowed 3 crosses before you fail. Top section has, if I recall, things like; the instructor has to break, you speed, you cause an accident and you fail to stop at a stop sign/red light. Bottom section will have small things, like; hand leaving the wheel too long or not in position, needing an extra manoeuvre in a 3 point turn, having to correct under turning or over turning, indicating incorrectly. Basically, it goes like this: Learners Test: digital in the registry office, gets you your learners permit to drive with a open license holder (NOT P1 or P2). Requires you to complete 1 year and 100+ hours of driving (80 day/20 night)(it was 120 when I was doing mine). NSW had restrictions; no more than 80km/h, 0% Blood Alcohol Content and display your plates. Learners do not have Points because their supervisor is the one who cops all the fines as they are responsible for the drivers actions. Provisional 1 Driving Test: actually get in a car and be tested by the instructor. Required to complete 1 year of driving with no suspensions before getting P2. Allows you to drive on your own with some restrictions depending on the state you get your license in. NSW we were restricted to 90km/h, if under 25 you could not have more than one passenger under 21 in the car between 11PM-5AM, have 0% BAC, display P1 plates and weren't allowed high powered vehicles (basically 6 cylinder sports or V8). You get 3 points on your license, but most offenses cost 3 points (demerit points), so you'll be suspended if you screw up. Can't tow more than 250kg unloaded. Provisional 2 Hazard perception Test: digital test in the registry. Allowed looser restrictions. NSW we could go up to 100 km/h, 0% BAC, display P2 plates, still no high powered vehicles. 3 Points still apply but can now tow up to 4500kg (unloaded). You must have your license (not including suspensions) for 2 years before doing your final test for your Open License. If you receive a demerit point suspension or a suspension for high-risk driving, an additional six months for every suspension received will be added to your provisional licence (1 & 2). Open License Test: digital test in the registry. Goes over all the road rules and hazard perceptions. On an open License; You are allowed a 0.05% BAC (basically one drink on a night out), can go at the listed speed limit, can tow larger trailers as long as it is safe for the car to do so, have as many passengers as the car seats during any time of the day, no plates, drive any vehicle in the Car Class (there are some box trucks that fall into this category as well as mopeds) and you'll have 12 Points on your license.

As an Australian, I was taught that you can’t do a u-turn on a single line as well as the double line.

Funny to read all the experiences. I had a little mini minor which had no syncho in 3rd gear, I needed to double shuffle. Outside police station I met the cop. He asked if I was unsure abt anything, I replied that I wasnt good at taking off up a hill. Well he said lets go and see abt that. Off we went for half hour drive, me worrying abt a bloody hill start.! On return he said you've done a very good job and by the way, you took off very well in the hill start from the station😂😂

Just being discussed on radio now is that only 7% of licence tests are taken in a manual. In Victoria over the last year.

I got mine a long while ago now. In those days it was done at the police station. I walked in and asked about getting my licence and the cop said to me that he had been waiting for me to come in and make it official. He had seen me driving my father's car around a few times. In those days it was just a piece of paper. He said I know you can drive and wrote it out for me without doing a test at all. Gotta love small town cops.

Here in Sydney I see a lot of instructors guiding drivers to do parallel parks with just one car. It’s a cop out tbh. And let’s not even mention the fact they also pull in across driveways & sit there evaluating the driver often 🤦🏼‍♀️

I got tailgated by a B-Double semi while heading out of town to do the unsealed road section of the assessment... which, in South Australia, is what replaces the traffic light assessment section for people living too far away from anywhere with traffic lights (although they still quiz you on the theory).

Oh I remember my driving test. My parallel park was between 2 poles and you had to have both tyres so many centre meters from the curb and dead centre of the poles. I had a hill start that was very steep and you had to preform a 3.5 turn in 3 turns or you failed. I spent half a year to really practice, I drove everywhere and in all types of traffic so when I went for my test I aced it. I also learned and did my test in a manual car.

In New Zealand you have 3 license levels, learners, restricted and full. To get your leaners you pass a theory test then driving requires you to have a fully licensed driver in the front passenger seat, then to qualify for a restricted license you need to wait 6 months. When you take your restricted test, you can do it in either a manual or automatic car, but when you pass, if you used an automatic car you license will only allow you to drive automatics, and if you used a manual car, you're endorsed for both. On a restricted license you are not allowed to carry passengers unless you have a fully licenses driver in the front passenger seat. After 18 months on a restricted license you can then take your full test, after passing, you may drive automatic or manual regardless of the car used.

In India you can pass your test in 10 minutes! It's on a closed private road probably because it is total madness on the roads over there!

In Australia we have 2 types of Car Licenses . We have the Auto License where you can only drive a Automatic Car and we have a Manual License . The Manual License your allowed to drive both auto and manual Cars. We don't have classes on learning to drive manual in schools we just have driving instructors that teach you how to drive auto or manual based on which license you wish to get.

In Australian driving tests, proceeding on the wrong side of the road for any amount of time is an instant disqualification.

Built up area is 50kph, Ian if you came to Australia you would not be allowed to drive a manual car only an automatic, in Australia to drive a manual vehicle you need a manual licence.

In NZ it's optional to learn how to drive with a manual car, if you take your restricted license with automatic you have to wait until you get your full license to drive manuals.

@7:20 here in the Netherlands and i think Europe in general you mainly learn to drive manual. That way you are also allowed to drive every car out there, both manual and automatic. Some people choose to just learn automatic but they aren't allowed to drive manual.

Here in Australia if you Pass the provisional tests with an automatic you can only drive automatic vehicle's while if you pass with a manual you are allowed to drive both only while your on a provisional licence, after a few years once you go test again after provisional 2 and get your full licence, everyone can drive both automatic and manual even if they did their provisional licences in automatic.

Our school zones normally have electronic/variable speed signs, and are active only certain times of day e.g. 7:30am to 9 - 40kph and same in afternoon 2:30pm to 4:pm - 40kph. Most would have attended crosswalks with crossing guard, but some may not.

I had to redo my test not long ago because I got caught speeding. The place I got caught speeding was coming off the highway and there were NO SIGNS saying the speed limit changed so I didn't know it did so I got caught doing 30kg over the speed limit, two days in a row!! I was shitting bricks when I had to redo the test because I already had lost my license for over a year. I passed and it was largely due to how lovely the driving examiner was. She made me feel so much calmer. It was like talking to an old friend! Got my license back now and have had it for a while. I'm way more careful about watching for the speed limit signs and anytime I'm in doubt, I just do 50kms.

Soo slow.. When he gets those 'P' plates on, him and his pet blowfly be chucking mad skids in about three hours😂

An interesting note, you can hear him indicate turning out of the round abouts.(to turn right, you indicate right as you go into the roundabout and indicate left as you leave) That's not done everywhere.

Here if you do the test in an automatic you can ONLY drive an automatic during ur probationary P1 and P2 licenses (about 4 years), after which you get your full licence automatically then you can drive either. But if u get ur license done with a manual you get to drive either from the start. So literally just do the test in auto matic, 1 less moving part to mess up on, almost no chance of stalling and you can use the 4 yrs to learn all other aspects of driving, then move on to a manual if u choose.

8:55 i think having a huntsman in your car would be an instant fail. When i did my test i used my instructors car and he made sure it was spotless, he even rewashed the windscreen just before because if there are any marks on it the testing officer would refuse the test. Part of the test is having a serviceable car with no defects. Although exercising good skill and judgement in an emergency situation can give you bonus points, so maybe pulling over carefully and parking the car before going to pieces might be seen favourably 😁

Got mine first time in Manual. As for license Category, you do a manual test in a manual car, if you pass it is an open class (ie both manual and auto) certified. If you do Auto only then it is restricted to auto only. You can only get a full license after probation. Probation is usually 1 year on a red color "P" plate and an additional 2 years on a green "P" plate. In the first year you are a provisional driver and can only have 1 peer passenger, in the 2nd and 3rd years you can carry as many as you like , notwithstanding the seating capacity. In all 3 years Zero BAC is Mandatory. So 00 Blood alcohol. If caught you can loose your probationary license and have to start again ( full 3 years in some cases) as the license is Cancelled. You are also restricted to power and weights (ie NO turbo, v8 or high powered machines) during the probation period unless authorized in special circumstances.. Oh and the min age before you can get a license in Most states is 17 and 9 months...No 16 year old drives unless accompanied by a full licensed driver and they hold a "Learner" permit and display a Yellow plate with the letter "L". Hope this helps cheers . Edit P.S. This particular test is also in a rural township so Not that hard, A city test is a lot more hectic with a tone more traffic. As for wrong side of road during that test, That should have been an INSTANT FAIL....

Looked like a country town, no traffic, so he had it easy. Now if it was the city in peak hour it might of been different story. If you learn on a auto, then that is all you are able to drive, but if you learn on a manual, then you can drive both manual and auto vehicles of that class.

My son called me from Spain today. He had to rent a car and they only had manual transmission. His comment was I'm glad Dad made me learn on a manual. Also he's driven in the States (no problem at all) so driving LH Drive in Spain wasn't a problem either. By the way we have an expression for driving a LH Drive vehicle "Loose Left, Tight Right".

I took my driving test in 2007 as well! Back when I did it in Qld, all you had to do was hold your learner's license for 6 months, then you could book your practical driving test. A few months afterwards, they changed the law so that you have to keep a logbook to prove that you have gained adequate experience under supervised driving during the day and night. I think it started off as 100 or something hours. Now I think you have to log 200 hours if you're less than 25yo or something. My parents suggested I learn manual since it's useful to drive both. Made it hard for me to learn though since my mum only knew how to drive auto and my dad was no longer allowed to drive due to his vision so I relied a lot on the driving lessons to learn manual driving. On my test I had to do the same stuff as this person, plus a hill-start right turn during peak hour school traffic, reverse parallel park on a downwards sloping hill and a 3 point turn. I was terrified of my instructor as he was not friendly at all and quite strict.

In Australia you sit for a written test for your Learners Licence, which you have to pass. You can take this test from 16. Then you have to do a certain number of driving hours in different conditions, which need to be signed off on. Then you can sit for your P plates. I think it's part written & a driving test. But you start off on red P plates, then after a certain amount of time you move onto your green P plates. For your L's & your P's your alcohol level must be 0.00 . And the speed your allowed to do is different. Once you turn 21 you can get your full licence. Then alcohol level is 0.05 . Some rules differ from State to State. In Victoria you are allowed to do a U-turn at an intersection, unless stated otherwise. But in Queensland it is the opposite, unless there is a sign that you can do a U-turn. You might have conditions on the back of your licence, like if you need to wear glasses while driving. Or like me I had to drive with hand controls with a spinner knob on the steering wheel. I am paraplegic & use a wheelchair, so the hand controls control the pedals & the spinner knob is connected to the steering wheel to steer the car. I use portable hand controls as I don't have a car of my own which is a pain. I drive my Mums 4x4 sometimes. Having my own car would make my life so much easier, unfortunately I am on a low income so I can't afford to buy one. Portable controls are very handy if you need a rental car. In Australia if you learn on a car with a manual gearbox, & you do your driving test on a manual, then you can drive either. But if you learn on a car with an automatic gearbox, you have to do your driving test on an automatic. Once you get your full licence you can drive either. I learnt on a manual ages ago. I aced my test first time. But when I lost the use of my legs I had to drive an automatic. But I had to sit for a driving test using hand controls with a Vicroads accredited Occupational Therapist. Because I was already on a full licence I didn't need to do the written test. When you drive with hand controls you can only drive an automatic. I aced this test as well. I'd prefer to drive a manual, but that's impossible when you drive with hand controls as you don't have enough hands to do that. You were saying Australians spell Tyre differently. Tyre - A Tyre that goes on a vehicle or bicycle. Tire - Lack of energy. Yes we do drive on the opposite side of the road, & our cars have the steering wheel on the opposite side of the car to America.

Probationary driver's licenses in Victoria are issued based on which transmission type you tested with. So if you want to drive a manual, you MUST do your test on a manual, otherwise your license will have a restriction stated on it that you're only allowed to drive automatic. Where I live you get your Learner's permit (L) first, then once you've logged 120 hours driving with an instructor/fully licensed driver, you can go for your Probationary license (P), which allows you to drive solo. When you go for your P plates, you first do a theory test on a computer (can do it online these days, I think), then you go for the big drive test. Then, as long as you make fewer than 3 critical errors (failing to indicate, hitting the kerb etc.) you're on to a two step probationary license that lasts four years. The first, red Ps have restrictions on things like no carrying groups of older teens/young adults, no towing trailers etc. Green P plates are less restricted and basically boil down to you can't have any alcohol at all, and you can't drive anything souped up. At the end of your four years probation, you're all done! Oh, and if there's a huntsman in your car, you calmly pull over to the side of the road, gently but firmly place the vehicle in park and turn it off, slowly step out of your vehicle, run away and cry like a baby. Huntsmen run at your face if you freak out.

You can choose to take your test for either automatic or manual in australia, my parents didn’t give me the option i was told i had to learn manual or nothing! Something else that Queensland has that not everywhere else has is we had to log 100 hours of supervised practice including a certain amount of night hours. Also a lot of residential areas of australia the speed limit is 50km/hr which is around 31mph though back in the day it used to be 60km/hr which would be closer to 37mph. I think you said 35 mph is a common speed so maybe that’s why you thought he was driving slow. I failed my first test because the examiner thought i was going to hit the car in front during my reverse parallel park but my car had quite a short bonnet so I thought i was fine. But since he interrupted me that was an automatic fail. I passed the next time despite accidentally turning the wrong way twice!

During my first driving lesson with a driving instructor a bug spider appeared on the inside windscreen (the corner I was driving at). I pulled over calmly, then freaked out lol

When you take a driving test in Australia.....if the vehicle is a manual(stick shift). You are issued with a provisional license that allows you to operate both auto and stick. If test is done with an auto your license is restricted to autos only and penalties apply if you are caught driving a stick. A provisional license also restricts your speed and also has zero alcohol and engine size restrictions. 20:51 A red "P" is displayed for one year on both ends of vehicle. If you drive without occurring any penalties for that year you are then entitled to apply for a green " P ' plate provisional license which last two years, after this time you do a knowledge test to receive your open license which will still be restricted to autos only if that is what you originally tested in .

American here. I wanted to do my driving test in the suburbs since there would be far fewer cars, but my driving school had connections in the big city DMV for next-day appointments. The wait was 3-4 months (!!!) for an appointment at the suburban DMV, so I chose the faster option. I got stuck in the middle of an intersection after the light turned red while waiting to make a left turn since there was so much traffic, and was scared out of my mind that the proctor would fail me for that. Thankfully, I didn't have to parallel park since there were literally zero open parking spots on the busy streets lol.

From the GPS voice I hear the vehicle is a fairly recent Toyota and the voice is from the vehicle navigation system. It tells you about school zones no matter whether they are active or not. In NSW there will generally be flashing lights at either end of the school zone when it is active. Also in NSW you can complete your driving test in either an automatic or manual transmission, however, if you get your licence in an automatic vehicle you are not permitted to drive a manual on a public road until you receive your green P (provisional) plates (1 year generally).

G'day Mate! I took my driving tests in 1970 and back then it was called reverse parking and in addition to the U turn we had to do a 3 point turn...No I did not pass the first time around and the reason back then...I was too confident! So I had to wait a month to try again this time successfully. Mine was in a suburb of Sydney so a lot more traffic than this one in Forbes(?) in country NSW Cheers!

When I got my licence I was from very rural nsw. Closest place to do test was 30mins away and you had to book in months in advance to get your P1 (red) because the instructor only came to town once a month and all the kids in the area had to book in. Tiny town so super simple test. No lights. Not roundabouts. A flat hand break start. Parallel park on an empty street and a quick trip out of town on a dirt road and that was it. We also used our own cars, so I passed in a manual.

We spell tyre correctly. Noah Webster deleted one spelling and kept the other for both meanings, thus stuffing up the etymology. Tyre: rubber on your wheels. Tire: grow weary.

I got my License in Sydney in 1967 after failing once because I couldn't reverse park on the first try ! But since then I've driven in Australia, South Africa, Namibia, Germany Netherlands, England, Belgium etc. No problems.

My test , 56 years ago . Drive in light traffic , right turn , left turn , 3 point turn in narrow street , reverse into driveway with deep drains each side ,(don't fall in was advice ) ,hill start on steepest hill in the area , reverse park down hill on steep street with useless hand brake and very poor rear vision , no outside mirrors , no turning head for better view . Answered all questions correctly , verbal quiz back then . Testing officer was the local police sergeant . Test car was a 1956 FJ Holden 3 speed manual column shift . Almost an hour of terror , but passed first time .

In Australian driving tests, you can choose to go for a manual or automatic licence. 3 decades ago, I passed mine in a manual, so it meant that I can drive any manual vehicle up to a gross combined mass of 4.5 tonnes. If you take your driving test in an automatic, it means you can only drive automatic vehicles. These days both are irrelevant as I drive trucks with up to 10 speeds, that can carry 30 tonnes. School zones in Australia are relatively standard; 40 km/h on school days from 7:30 am to 9:00 am, and 2:30 to 4:00 pm in the afternoon, only if it is a school day. Once you pass, you have two years of probation. All states have a demerit system. Offences are given demerit points, according to the seriousness. Accumulate more than 12 of them in a year, and it's a 3 month suspension. Probationary drivers can only accumulate four demerits before losing their licence. For the first year, you wear a red P-plate; a red "P" on a white background. The second year it's a green "P" on a white background. After that probation is over, you can qualify to train for a truck licence

This is a very small country town - Forbes in NSW! Most kids have been driving / riding motor bikes for years on family farms.

this is the Practical portion to advance from your Lerner's permit to a Provisional lenience, the Main Roads post practice exams for both Lerner and Provisional tests on their websites, before you can sit your practice you have to pass the theory test.

And you commented quite a few times that the learner was travelling so slow - it was possibly a 50km/hr zone. And in Aus, flies and bugs in the car are super normal - you’d ignore them!

In Great Britain first requirement to learning to drive is apply for a Provisional Licence. Then you have to take a Theory test, so you know about signs and hazard awareness. Out on the road when practicing you must be accompanied by someone who has held a full licence for two years. We do not have the Provisional or Restricted status like Australia or New Zealand.

With manual transmissions down here, if you take your test in an auto, you can only drive auto, unless you retake your test in a manual car. The license tiers over here are L (learner, must have an adult with license in the passenger seat) P1 (solo driving) and P2 (solo driving with less restrictions). Once you get your P2 license you are allowed to drive manual on roads without having to take any test. You can still drive manual on your P1 with an auto license if you have an adult with a license in the passenger seat.

In Germany you are normaly training on an manual car. But some bigger driving schools give you a choice to do it on a automatic. But if you make your licence test on a automatic car, you are not allowed to drive a manual car!

I lernt to drive in a Army Landrover. As you might know, you only have 3 windows, windscreen and the 2 doors. So looking over your shoulder to see if something was coming you only saw the canopy and everything was done using the two outside mirrors. Obviously it was a manual gear box and when changing down gears you had to double de clutch to bring the motor up to speed of the lower gear. I still do it today out of habit, but it also prelongs the live of the clutch because the clutch is not rubbing as much to get up to speed for the lower gear. even 50 years later I still use only the mirrors to reverse, although in a car you have the inside mirror as well

How things change over generation & time! My dad as a youngster, just walked into the local Police Station and asked for a licence. They asked him can you drive, he said yes and the Police officer says jump in your car and show me. They do a few tiny blocks then back to the Police Station to await his licence to be drawn up. My mum did it at a much older age . . . after having her 5 Kids and we lived in a very hilly suburb. Her test was basically drive her car to one of the steepest roads in the town (over the 45 deg incline). Park the car on the curbside, switch of the car, then start it up again once more on a hillside start. These were quite a challenge at the best of times but she was also driving not the old Manual which would be quite a challenge but the old school, column shift manual which at times were very hard just to find first gear let alone finding first gear on a steep hill, where your first sense of feeling would be the rolling backwards if you happen to miss that gear first time round. I also believe in this region the failure to past this segment was basically automatic failure for the whole licence. I completed my driving test, in the middle of Melbourne or very close by, thus had to deal with possible heavy pedestrian traffic and of course the most unusual obstacles considered by many non Aussies, A) The Hook Turn and B) City Trams. Saying that I did getting the licence in an Automatic, but paid to also get some skills in 5extra lessons for the Manual transmission skill set. Passed 1st attempt.

I'm pretty sure the location of this town where the test was done is Forbes, NSW. The railway tracks, pub, Holden, Maccas and service station look familiar, as do the round abouts in town. I was there for a family reunion earlier in the year. I live in Sydney, Forbes is about a 5 hour drive west. Out towards Parkes where the big radio telescope is, as featured in the movie The Dish.

That "you have entered a school zone" prompt sounds the same as a RAV4 we have at work. Problem is the navigation is too stupid to know what time it is, so it alerts you to school zones even at 10pm!

The driver is not going "so slow" he is obeying the speed limit