- Every driver who is driving legally on the road has taken a driver's test at least once in order to get their license. One of the first things that a driving test does is to ensure that drivers are capable of using the vehicle in the real world. Up until this point in aspiring drivers' lives, they have not had a chance to legally drive a vehicle unless they had a learner's permit. So for many drivers, a driving test may in fact be the first time that they have legally driven a car on public roads. When aspiring drivers are put into the driver's seat during a driving test, they need to apply their book knowledge of driving into action.
- Beyond having to use vehicles for possibly the first time, driving tests also prepare new drivers by making them more aware of their surroundings when on the road. Even if new drivers have had learners' permits, there was always someone in the car as an extra set of eyes to look out for their safety. When taking a driving test, the observer is strictly there to instruct the driver where to go and watch how they get there. This serves to make new drivers aware of their surroundings because they now have the added responsibility of watching the road and those on it themselves. Without help from others, new drivers take their "training wheels" off and begin to assume this responsibility by rising to the challenge.
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One of the biggest ways driving tests prepare new drivers is by the actual tasks that the test administrators, or observers, ask for the drivers to perform. The course that is given by the observer is often one that has various turns and stops to judge the driver's ability to perform the physical techniques of driving. During a driving test, if a driver is too shaken to perform these tasks or does not exhibit a standard that is acceptable by the observer, the driver can be recommended to retake the test. The inability to perform tasks under the watchful eye of an observer generally means that when a driver is on her own she will drive badly, as bad habits are picked up faster than good habits.
Things that are judged during the driving portion of a test are turns, signaling, stops and parking. These are all major portions of the test that are judged by the observer.
