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Congratulations, you have passed the Texas drivers license written test and now you are going to take the driving test, or also called road test.

So, are you nervous about it? Well, I was nervous for several days before I took the road test. But don’t worry, I will give you the guide how to pass the driving test successfully.

What is tested in the road test?

#1. The Car

Interestingly enough, the first thing that the examiner will test is whether the car is working properly or not. She will ask you to do the following:

• Show the car inspection and registration sticker
• Show the car insurance card
• Turn the left and right signal lights
• Test the horn
• Press the brake to test the brake lamp

Tips:

• Make sure you have all the valid car inspection, registration, and insurance.
• Check the signal lights, horn, and brake lamp prior to taking the road test.

#2. Parallel Parking

After the examiner felt safe to ride with the car, she will sit in the front passenger’s seat and ask you to drive to the parallel parking spot located inside the DPS parking area.

I find it hard to describe how the parallel parking spot looks like by word, so let me draw it rather:

What you need to do is straight forward, parallel park your car on the spot shown and don’t hit the pole. If you hit the pole you failed the parallel parking test, and that also means you failed the road test.

Tips:

• Practice well your parallel parking skills prior to taking the road test. Although in Texas there is very little chance you need to do parallel park your car (due to the huge spaces everywhere), the purpose of the examiner need to test your parallel parking skill is to make sure you know how to control your car.
• If you have no clue about how to parallel parking, watch the parallel parking tutorial videos on my YouTube playlist.
• If you don’t always have the car to practice with, use these simulation games:
  • http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/games/park
    
  • http://www.learn4good.com/games/simulation/driverseducation.htm
    
  • http://www.driverseddirect.com/game/
    

#3. The Road Test

Alright, after you passed the parallel parking test successfully, the examiner will then ask you to drive outside of the DPS parking lot and go to the road. The area around DPS is usually a pretty empty traffic neighborhood, but with lots of intersections (The DPS where I took the test have 5-6 intersections).

The examiner will tell you when to turn left, right, or go straight. For the driving test it takes around 15-20 minutes.

Tips:

• Practice enough for few days prior to the road test.
• Don’t be nervous, remember all what you have practiced.
• STOP COMPLETELY on the introduction with stop sign, rolling stop is not enough.
• Observe the speed limits.
• Do left and right turn correctly.

#4. The Final Result

The examiner will tell you to go back to the DPS and park your car. She will then tell you where are your mistakes, if there is any, and tell you some comments. Finally, she will tell you whether you pass or fail (let’s think positively, you pass).

If you pass, the examiner will ask you to go inside the DPS office with her and wait till they print the temporary drivers license for you.

If you fail, she will give the paper to you and ask you to schedule another appointment for the road test.

Closing

Alright, that’s the detail about the drivers license road test in Texas. I wish you good luck guys and hope you pass the road test. 😀

UPDATE: If you are going to take Texas Driver License test soon, you may want to check the Texas Driver License Test Resource page.