I have been a driver in my own country and I have my own drivers license there. Moving to another country, particularly in Washington State in the United States, required me to get a new license. During my first year of moving here, I used my old license. Yes, you are allowed to use your Non-US drivers license for a year here. Unfortunately for me though, before the one year was over, I celebrated my birthday and I had to get myself a license here to continue driving.
I was pretty much aware my license from the Philippines would be useless on my birthday. However, I kept holding off the exam because I was merely too lazy to read thru the 116 page pdf guide that my husband downloaded and sent me so I could study it. Every time I start reading thru the pages, I feel sleepy and eventually drift away. As circumstances would have it though, I was obliged to get it done. My husband had to leave for a week, to attend to his mom who underwent a shoulder operation. So I was left with no choice. I have to read thru the manual, take and pass the written exam, and pass the actual driving test.
Sad to say, I did not pass my first attempt of taking the written exam. I was on the very last question and the very last chance not to make a mistake. Unfortunately, I was not able to answer correctly. So I had to come again the following day and take the exam. The question that I made a mistake on was about an incident where the police was not present and there is damage to property of more than $700 and injury or death involved. The question was: In how many days are you required to report the said incident to the department of motor vehicle. I was thinking 4 days... but... I was also thinking, since there is death involved.. wouldn't it be very important to report it immediately? So in the end, I chose the wrong answer of 2 days and the correct answer was 4 days.
I went back the following day, took the exam again and passed it with only one mistake. I realized I could have passed it the first time around and saved $20 if I did the right thing the first time. So for those of you who are planning to take a written drivers exam here in Washington state, here are some tips that I would like to share:
1. While reading the PDF for the drivers guide, make sure you take down notes of things that you are not familiar with. What I mean by this is, there are certain rules listed in the guide which we are already aware of, like how to yield on a 4 way stop, and there are some rules like say for example how many feet away should you stay away from an emergency vehicle when it is responding to an emergency and you are driving behind that vehicle. What I did was read through the manual and listed all the stuff that I feel I need to memorize and familiarize myself with. After reading the entire manual, I reviewed the stuff that I have listed down and read it over and over.
2. Make sure you take some sample tests online to evaluate if you are already ready for the exam. There is a practice test on the dol website that you can take. There are also several websites around the internet that can provide you with FREE test. Yes, you do not have to pay for these practice test. I was glad I found a website that has an endless supply of practice test. Unfortunately though, I discovered it only after I failed my first attempt. I believe that if I had found this ahead of time, it would have helped me and make me pass my written test the first time. Just go to: http://driversprep.com/index.php then click on start. Select which state you are, then take the free practice tests.
3. A very important factor to pass the drivers license written test is to relax and go through the questions slowly. Remember that there is no time limit when you are taking the exam. Rushing to finish the exam will increase the chances of making mistakes.
4. Make sure you do not commit mistakes on the first half of the questions. This will not only boost your confidence, but it will also give you more chances of passing. If you only start committing mistakes towards the end, you will be more relaxed in answering the rest of the questions and will most likely pass it.
After passing the written test, the next thing that you have to prepare for is the driving test. Since I am already a driver, I only need to review a few things for this test. However, for those who are not, here are some tips:
1. Watch the videos in youtube. The Washington state department of licensing has uploaded videos that will help. You can find the videos here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2F646107C3D95D87&feature=plcp
2. They will not take you to freeways. You will only be driving in an area with not so much traffic. Do not be afraid to ask questions before the test starts. One thing that I forgot was when I was told to pull over and pretend that I was leaving the vehicle. I did not turn off my engine, nor did I put the gear on park. I was still on drive and just stepped on the brake. I did not also notice if it was an uphill or downhill, but I did remember to put my parking brake on. After I was done with it and was back on the road, that was when it occurred to me that I might have done a very big mistake there.
3. Never forget to signal when changing lanes and making turns. Stop behind the WHITE LINE of a pedestrian lane. Do not forget to do this too when you are instructed to do the backing maneuver. Even if there is no pedestrian lane, you should stop before continuing and making a turn. I totally forgot about it.
4. Parallel parking has always been a pain for me. The car I drove in the Philippines is a sedan and the car that we have here is a minivan. I always had problems trying to parallel park. Fortunately, there is a place outside the department of motor vehicles where they will let you do your parallel parking. If you have a chance, go there and practice before your driving test. I only found out about this when I was already taking my test. BUMMER! If I had know, I would have taken the opportunity of practicing.
5. Never make critical and risky mistakes. Even if you pass the other areas in the driving test, if you committed a critical mistake, then you will definitely have to retake.
I did pass my driving test with a score of 82, although I did not pass my parallel parking. I was also delighted that the lady who gave me the exam was very friendly. That made it easy for me because that did not make me feel nervous while taking the exam. So if you are planning to take the drivers written test and driving exam soon, I wish this blogpost will help you pass it. If this post helped you pass the Washington drivers exam and driving test, please come back and leave a comment. Good luck!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment