I have a road test on Monday. I am terrified. I have GOT to take it though because my job is 30 minutes away.
Any advice? oh and how do you get over th fear of merging on a highway?

so help me God

do what the majority of others do in the states just build up your speed, and go for it........

God forbid you should slow down, just force your way in thats what they do here, oh and don't forget the turn signal here in America means move over I am coming through!!!

Seriously, the test here is really easy you should have no problem. Advice for merging just keep a fair speed and be prepared to yield if neseccary.

That is my issue. What if I won't react on time and someone is gonna hit me??????

Best advice is to practice..over and over and over...if a cell phone-talking, hamburger-eating, non-paying-attention driver can do it, so can you..

P.S.,
On our test, there was no freeway portion, just local streets and a parking test.

I won't have a highway either for the test. I'm hoping I will not forget all the mirrors/blinkers/rotary/changing lanes rules. I'm wondering what are people mostly failed for.
The highway thing is...well..If I pass the test on Monday I will have to drive to work on Tuesday...on my own!!!!! OMG!!! Seriously...I am panicking only thinking about it

Good luck on your test tomorrow! You can do it
Justin told me that when merging into a highway, you want to build your speed on the feeder so that when you merge, you're going at highway speed already. And that's as much as I know about HW driving



Saludos,
Caro

Rofl. Thank you..I will try to avoid being hit )) and yeah...I WILL need luck...considering the fact that I didn't practice all that much :-P

I didn't have to drive on the highway in my test too. I told hubby I wanted to avoid that as much as possible. So we picked a BMV branch that was reasonably far from the closest interstate. And at the time of my test, it was still school hours so I drove at 25 mph for most of the test. LOL. And the parallel parking portion almost made me laugh because the instructor actually told me when to start turning as I reversed. I was so nervous about that part for nothing!

I only ventured out on the interstate after I got my license. Three times in the last 1½ years. And only with hubby next to me. Semis + interstate = utterly terrified Ephesia. I always have mental images of a semi tipping over on to me.

Oh wow wow wow!!! i am glad i am not alone in this! Interstate is petrifying me. I am so scared, my heart is ready to jump out of my chest...brrrrrrr
Yeah the test will exclude interstate too...and since I have noone to practice parallel parking with me I was doing it with a snow bank today I stuck a broom in the snow to decide on the steering wheel level of the other car and kept practicing I think i almost got it next is backing up in a straight line..hehehe

You will do just fine

I had mine today - you can see info on how it went in the topic about how getting DL in IN sucks :-)

i cant find it...can u send me the link and and and...did you pass? and if you did...how long did you drive before the test?

lol. Your stories about driving lessons are reminding me of how I nearly drove my husband insane while he was teaching me. He never lost his patience with me, but it was extremely difficult for him to figure out how to show and explain to someone who's NEVER had a need to drive. And when you try to teach new tricks to someone in their mid-30s ... well, there's that.

I remember parallel parking lessons as the hardest. Our house is in a court, so we could practice in front of our house. When I finally picked a date for my driving test, I told hubby I wanted to practice parallel parking for 30 mins every evening. During the first lesson, he had to break out sticks and poles and tape them to the front and back of my car so I could see and gauge distance. That worked for about 10 mins, because the duct tape kept falling off. Then our buddy (who was living with us that time) decided to come out and pretend to be an orange cone. He stood where I needed to park. That worked pretty well.

It took MANY attempts before hubby figured out the exact point where I had to start turning. It was something like "middle of back window passing back door of stationary car" or something along those lines. It almost became a science. LOL. We even had neighbors coming out to either cheer or laugh.

You can now see why I almost burst out laughing when the instructor told me when to start turning during my test. When I started reversing and turn the wheel, she looked back and said, "Oops, u turned too soon. Stop, straighten out, go back to the same spot and let's retry this." I was so tempted to kiss her.

On my way back to the BMV branch, the instructor made small talk and then heard me exhale really loudly. I told her I was so freaked out over my test because of parallel parking. She laughed pretty hard.

Well...my hubby's a little different. he SUCKS at instructing. Every time I either cry or scream or something else
From what Ive heard though, the place I will take the test at, has a pretty evil racist lady
she actually told a friend of mine "I don't know who's issuing you licenses in Belarus but you're not getting one here"
I'm just afraid I'm going to get that particular lady

They take you on the highway for your road test? We only do a few busy streets and a few side streets here.

oh no they don't! The only reason I asked is...I will have to go to work second day after getting my license. It's a 30 minutes highway commute.

Oh, okay. I promise it will seem so easy once you do it a few times. That being said, I still won't let my husband on the highway unless it is 5 a.m. on a Sunday morning. He's a little skittish and still unsure....after an entire year of driving. He had never driven a car before a year ago, so I give him a break. Luckily, he can take the side streets all the way to pretty much anywhere he ever needs to go. St. Louis is good for that.

I wish you luck. Just hang in there. You will be just fine.

Oh thank you so so so much. I will definitely try . The most important thing is to get a license. Everything else will come with time. I have a flexible schedule so I suppose i will leave at 6:30 to be at work for 7 when there will be noone on the highway. I will be leaving work at about 4 when there is not going to be too big of a traffic coming back...i hope i will manage that way

I remember being stressed like you when I first started to drive in the freeway and highways of CA (Nov 2007). And driving in SF is additional stress, not many drivers are tolerant of new drivers. I'm not really a beginner (had 14 years of driving experience from my country and I'm 30y.o. ) but it's a totally new experience for me to drive here. My first driving experience was in a freeway, imagine me screaming at the top of my lungs, with big trucks wheezing by. And not only did I have to speed up and merge but to make frequent lane changes, I was all shaking but that was the time I stuck it out and decided I have to do it. And I forced myself to drive in the freeway, until I got the hang of it. Avoiding them won't help you become a good driver, I learned that myself. Sometimes you have to give yourself a push, and you'll learn to become better everyday.

I now enjoy driving, I quite miss it when my husband drives on the weekends. I also drive to work.

Drive defensively! Good luck.

Here it is: http://www.visajourney.com/forums/index.ph...p;#entry1480217

Well, I held my Bosnian driver's license for 4-5 years - except I did not really had to drive in Sarajevo as we have pretty good public transport system there and at work we had an office driver. I first started driving when we were here in June and then in the end of December when hubby got me a new car. In total, driving time in the States - less than 2 weeks Also, it's a lot easier to drive a car with automatic shifter than with manual [where you have to think about clutch, gears, gas and break].

Good luck on your test and let us know how it goes!

first and first of all congrats with your license!!! I am glad you got it girl!!!!!
I will definitely let everyone know just how miserably i failed ))))

Well, if that helps somehow, than i wish you MUCH LUCK!
That's about all i can do.I don't know nothing about driving yet
Voi tine pumnii

Good luck!! I'm a pretty nervous driver and *not* looking forward to getting mine when I move!!

Any news? did you take the exam?
Now that I have my EAD on the way, I'm studying up to sit for the learner's permit exam

Saludos,
Caro

hehehe you're falling into my footsteps I still have 1 day until i have my road test. It's on Monday at 3pm I can't way to get over it. Mikey says I'm a good driver
Congrats with your EAD. That's really awesome. I wish mine was on its way

Thanks! I'm sure you'll get your EAD soon
I'll keep my fingers crossed for you on monday!

Saludos,
Caro

well sounds like you start and stop times for going to and coming from work are bad if you start at 7 am and leaving at 6:30 thats the most busy time on the road in the morning for comuters need to leave earlier so you have plenty of time just in case you need to pull over and take a deep breath as for coming home well nothing you can do but take it easy stay in your lane as for merging onto a hiway just get your speed up to traffic flow put on the blinker and merge using the whole off ramp to hiway you will do fine another tip
tell the instructor to buckel up before you do anything if they dont do it right away. tell them its the law hehehehe good luck you will do great just relax and think to your self not a problem i can do it it is easy nothing to fear but fear it self

No road test today We got a big snow storm so they re-scheduled it. :'(
I DID learn to parallel park though

Awww. I thought about you today and wondered how your test went.

We didn't get hit with a snow storm here in Indy, although the brisk snow shower on my drive home from work made me a bit twitchy.

Did you have fun parallel parking?

Rofl That would be funny like hell. If he/she wont do it I will actually say something I think it will ease my nerves and the tension. Thank you for the advice on driving I appreciate it. When people are talking about it it doesn't sound TOO suicidal )

Actually, after I learned how to do it, I was so crazy about it I refused to stop doing it. I guess it's the pride I felt or something but both, mike and his father shook their head when i kept saying "Let's do it again!!!"
Now I have my test next Wednesday. I hope it wont be so ugly outside. I really hope I will be able to take that test
Thank you for thinking of me Can u do it again in 9 days?

You are plain adorable !!!

And I will definitely think of you again in 9 days' time!

Speaking of driving, we're expecting heavier snow showers tomorrow. Because my biometrics appt is downtown, and hubby works just 2 blocks away from the ASC, he suggested last night that I leave with him in the morning. He can take me to my appointment and then take me to work. I think he remembered how I hate driving in the snow.

I am really a lump of chicken poop when it comes to driving on the interstate and in anything heavier than moderate rain. LOL.

Well that was very nice of him! I guess he's more understanding than my hubby. Mine tries to make me get over it I don't have a choice. He doesn't work anywhere close to where I work and he knows I will have to get there somehow. I really hate snow. If it's not sliding it's spinning. If it's not spinning it's too slow. Grrrrrrrr....
So you have your biometrics tomorrow? That's pretty cool Nothing special but it's painless

I hate snow too. I have skidded on black ice as well. Nothing serious but I couldn't get out for a few mins after that. Had to burn some rubber before I could move out of the patch. lol.

What your hubby is doing is a good thing! Forces you to be independent. My hubby is soft-hearted sometimes. I just need to whine softly and he will go, "Oh, ok. Let me do it." But only sometimes. At other times he doesn't fall for it.

Ya, I have my biometrics at 11 this morning. This is for my I-751 (removing conditions). I hope it will go as fast as my AOS biometrics 2 years ago. Usually the Indianapolis ASC is not too busy. *fingers crossed*

Hey Aubger, I just went to see your timeline and read your consulate interview story. Wow. What a mean lady you got at the consulate!

Don't worry about a thing. My husband passes his driving test last week Monday while it was snowing and he doesn't speak much English. He just kind of made out the key words the testing lady was telling him, like right, left, light, stop sign, etc. and that was it. No parallel parking at all, I don't think they ask to see that much anymore.

The lady was a total witch but bottom line is he passed. So you should be ok.

Good luck!

Diana

how did your biometrics go? I hope it was a smooth ride
yeah the interview wasn't one of the most pleasant experiences of my life. Even approved I got out of there crying because they were so mean. Anyways...I'm here with my hubby and everything will be fine

Wow...well I'm glad to hear some positive stories. So far I've heard so many failure stories it's not even funny. I hope I'll be lucky ennough to pass the first time.
Thank you for wishing me luck...one more week...one more week

Biometrics was a breeze. We showed up 30 mins early but they processed me in 10. And it was the same lady who took my biometrics for AOS 2 years ago. She's a real hoot. Made me laugh with her stories.

And don't worry about your driving test next week, ok? I am very sure you'll ace it.

Oh and before I forget to mention this: I have never parallel parked even once in the last 1½ years after I got my driver's license. I've also never reverse parked. LOL.

Good luck on the driving test. I think the actual test was not as bad as I thought it would be - I was nervous too.

I DID IT!!!! I DID IT!!!! I DID IT!!!!
Thank you all so much for the encouragement. It meant the world to me!

Congrats!

Lol...thank you...Tomorrow is a highway morning...now you can imagine ME screaming!!!!

Congratulations! Now tell us how it went on the first driving day.

Congratulations!!!!

Well, I started driving lessons early Dec, first time driving ANYWHERE....
Here in MD, you don't go out on the road at all, they take you around in a car park thank goodness!

I have a provisional UK licence, when I went to try get a learner's permit, the supervisor at the MVA said my licence is good for me to drive with no restrictions for a year.
I tried to explain it was provisional, she said they didn't care, that's the rules lol......

But now I can drive, I have to wait TWO weeks to MAKE an appointment to have the test.