hey it's jacqueline and today we're going to talk about one of the hard parts of the driving test those times when people fail the test some of the things that people do on their driving test that result in automatic fail are things that we see people do out on the road every day and so it can be a little bit confusing i wish there was like a top five list i could give you but actually i'm gonna give you a top seven let's go down the list one of the first common errors that result in an automatic fail is sliding through the dmv exit without stopping to check the sidewalk please remember that every time you leave a driveway there's a sidewalk between you and the road you have to do a full stop before the sidewalk check the sidewalk for pedestrians and only then can you creep out and enter your turn so don't slide out of the dmv parking lot stop check the sidewalk and then continue another automatic fail is entering an uncontrolled intersection without creeping up to check for better visibility if you stop at your limit line and you see that cross traffic doesn't stop they don't have stop signs it's uncontrolled and you can't see perhaps there's a parked car or a building or a fence or bushes you always have to creep out to the point of better visibility often that point of better visibility is marked with a second limit line but if there isn't a second limit line there you want to creep out usually matching your right and left mirror to the edge of the concrete on the sidewalk and from that vantage point you'll be able to double check and make sure it's safe before you go so do not enter an intersection that is uncontrolled unless you know and you've crept up and you can tell that it's absolutely safe for you to cross through another automatic fail failure to yield to pedestrians bikes or cars you have to be able to yield at all times even if somebody is taking a turn that is not theirs you have to yield for pedestrians in california pedestrians always have the right-of-way that means even in the middle of a street if the pedestrian starts walking across from sidewalk to sidewalk you have to slow and stop at an intersection if there's a pedestrian waiting on the corner to cross you're supposed to notice come to a safe stop yielding wait for them to cross and then continue failure to yield to pedestrians is always an automatic fail because it's an automatic fail in life failure to yield to bicycles is also an automatic fail if a bicyclist comes in front of you even if they don't have the right-of-way let's say it's a four-way stop and you know they were supposed to stop but they didn't you still have to do a second stop let them pass and then continue on your way and failing to yield for cars of course an automatic fail on your test your examiner will likely take you to an intersection where there is a yielding right turn and you have to remember to check for all three of those yields check for the bike lane check for pedestrians and make sure that there are no cars coming before you go the next thing is not checking the blind spot if you don't check your blind spot before you make a right or left lane change that's considered a dangerous maneuver because there could be a car there or a bike or a motorcycle so you absolutely have to check your blind spot whenever you move the car to the right or left if you don't it's a dangerous maneuver automatic fail the next thing is bumping the curb when parking okay let's say this is the curb and this is your car you're driving the examiner will say please pull over and park you'll do your turn signal mirror blind spot because it's a right lane change you curve the car toward the curb but then you have to straighten out and you have to arrive parallel without bumping if you bump the curb it's an automatic fail and it seems sort of like a like a unfair way to not pass your test because maybe you're a really good driver and you just bumped the curb because you didn't see it well enough but it is really important if you bump your curb in real life you can pop your tire damage your car and you just have to show that you can drive around in the world without bumping into things that's kind of fair another automatic fail is a lane change without making sure there's enough distance behind you and in front of you so at some point during your examination the examiner is going to say please make a lane change when it's safe and you're going to check your rear view mirror to make sure you can see the headlights of the car you want to change lanes in front of of course you're going to signal mirror blind spot and then you're going to move over you have to make sure you're not too close to the car ahead of you at least one car length between you and the car ahead of you and of course make sure that the car you're changing lanes in front of you in the car you're changing lanes in front of is far enough back so that you don't accidentally clip somebody as you're moving over that is a really important skill and when i have a student who fails their driving test because of one of these errors i think to myself well let's work that out because we can't have you going through the world not understanding these errors the last automatic fail i want to talk about number seven is going in the wrong lane a lane violation remember you always have to do right into the right lane left into the left lane and remember this you are not a bus you are not allowed to drive in the bus lane if you're going to make a right turn you're going to signal and look in your mirror and your blind spot and then you're going to curve over towards the right corner but if you see that it's a bus lane you're going to wait till after the bus lane to start your curve because what did we say you are not a bus you're also not a bicycle that same rule applies if you're driving down the road and the examiner says please make a right turn you're going to notice the bike lane check mirror blind spot and you are not going to go over the bike lane until you're at the very tip if it's a marked bike lane there will be a solid white line and a few dashes leading up to the intersection and it's only over the few dashes at the end that you get to curve so these are the seven most common errors i hope that these tips will help you avoid these common mistakes good luck and keep practicing until you're there [Music]