[quote=“Michael J Botti”]Couple of tips for the driving exam:
Turn your mirrors toward the ground so you can see the sensors.
When backing up through the “S” turn, start cranking just a little sooner than you’d think.
If you make it past the dreaded S, the rest of the driving section is a joke.
Take it with a stick/manual transmission. in Taiwan, if you test with an automatic, you can’t drive a manual.
The written test is a cakewalk, with some fairly humorous questions as well. Bone up on the book for an hour, and you’ll pass no problem.[/quote]
You don’t lose points for crossing the lines when backing out of the S, but only for screwing it up so bad you have to stop and try again. You Do lose points for crossing the center line when you back out of the S onto the main carriageway ie you are supposed to be able to do it into your own lane.
I tested at Shulin, and was in the car observing when the guy before me (from the same school as me) tested. He crossed the side line when reversing out of the ‘S’. The buzzer went off, and that single infringement was enough to fail him. He had to get out of the car and walk back in the rain.
In the Cheng-de DMV you are not allowed to hit anything back up on the S turn ( a 32 point deduction). You are however, permitted to make one steering correction if you think you have the angle wrong. As I posted earlier, start cranking for the first corner sooner than you think, and if you don’t have the right apex, simply pull forward and try again ( you can only do this once). If you hit a sensor backing up, you are done. There are also lesser deductions for backing too far out and also another small deduction for hitting a sensor pulling out of the first parking area. If you hit a sensor backing into the first parking space, you are also toast…
When I took the test, just watching the instructors face was enough to let me know how I was doing. When backing up through the S, I realized in the first two feet that I was going to run wide. I stopped the car and the tester let me know that I could pull forward and try again. The overall feeling at the Chengde Rd DMV seemed to be “Ok we know you are an experienced driver, just watch out for the sensors and let’s get it over with”
How any of this equates to real world driving eludes me though…
I think it’s pretty informative to hear from different testing areas…
I didn’t take the driving test in Taoyuan because I’d heard so many horror stories about the place…
Bu lai En, it’s entirely possible that the instructor let me slide because I’m a foreigner…Have to check that when I go back for the big bike test. From my understanding you are correct about the back-in parking, but after hearing your story I may have to reconsider the back up S rule. I remember from an earlier posting you went to a local driving school correct? I just went in blind and took the driving/written exam with no preparation…
My Taiwanese friends all told me that the local driving schools give you all sorts of “Cheats”…Like, back up two feet and turn the wheel exactly one and 3 quarters at this marker, etc…Did you get any of these? And if so could you share some of the better ones?
[quote]I remember from an earlier posting you went to a local driving school correct? I just went in blind and took the driving/written exam with no preparation…
My Taiwanese friends all told me that the local driving schools give you all sorts of “Cheats”…Like, back up two feet and turn the wheel exactly one and 3 quarters at this marker, etc…Did you get any of these? And if so could you share some of the better ones?
[/quote]
Yep, my instructor told me that you have to do it on one go.
The ‘cheats’. Ha! It’s all ‘cheats’, but I can’t really tell you them. It works like this:
The driving school is almost an exact replica of the test site. You do the test in the school’s car. The car has markings on different places like beside your window, above the rear tire etc. The course has certain other things like the post with the buzzer (for when you corss the line) and other markings on it. You get taught like this: reversing into a perpindicular park ‘when the yellow marking tape next to your window passes the post, turn the steering wheel two turns. When the thing over the rear wheel passes the painted line on the ground, straighten up one turn, when your front wheel crosses the line straighten up fully’ etc. The testers kindly let the instructors take us around for a look at the actual test site, before it opens. As they do this they make helpful chalk marks/scratch marks, or put stones in place etc. Practice several times on the school’s course and you can’t go wrong.