Taking the road test in NH tomorrow. What should I know?

January 20, 2014 12:33 PM

Another late driver getting a license for the time. I've seen previous AskMe questions on road test advice, but I was wondering if there's anything unexpected that will come up on the NH test. (I'm taking it in Claremont in an automatic.)

I've been driving with an instructor about once every two weeks for a few months now. I feel reasonably confident, but I haven't had the chance to practice much with friends outside the lessons. My instructor teaches in VT, so she's not too familiar with the NH tests.

I'm mentally making a list of things that will come up: hill starts, parallel/perpendicular/angular parking, 3-point turn. Anything else (besides general driving around the block)? One thing I'm still nervous about is entering the highway, though I'm fine with changing lanes and exiting. Do they ever ask you to get on the highway? Other than the obvious mistakes like, um, hitting something, or not signaling/stopping when necessary, or not checking your mirrors and blind spots, what are some errors that a new driver might make without realizing it?

posted by redlines to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

I can only share my own personal experience: I failed my first test because I didn't stop long enough and look both ways at the stop sign on the closed test track. Felt like a dummy because this was such a simple thing to do - I was all worried about the parallel parking.
posted by kdern at 12:48 PM on January 20, 2014

Hopefully someone who has taken it more recently than myself can chime in, but when I took the NH drivers' test in Keene many years ago, I don't think I had to get on the highway. (I suppose the likelihood of that might depend on how far the DMV is from the nearest highway?)

The only goof-up I made (probably because I was nervous about some other part of the test) was to not stop for a pedestrian at a crosswalk. Fortunately, I realized my mistake as soon as I made it... at the end of the test my examiner let me skate because I answered without hesitation when he asked if I knew where I'd goofed.

Good luck - I'm sure you'll do fine!
posted by usonian at 12:56 PM on January 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

I don't know NH laws, but I'd add pedestrian crosswalks and train crossings (look both ways in case the track signals aren't working) to your list of possible test scenarios.
posted by ceribus peribus at 1:26 PM on January 20, 2014

I took the test in West Lebanon, NH 15 years ago. Didn't ask me to get on the highway (even though there's an on-ramp right there.) Basically had me drive a couple of miles through both residential and commercial areas.

Only snag came at the very end: I was asked to back into a parking spot. I'd done this a million times, but only between other cars or cones. In this case, the instructor asked me to back into a very particular spot, but there were no cars or other barriers on the sides of this spot. I end up totally straddling one of the lines. Whoops. But I still passed!
posted by SpiffyRob at 1:48 PM on January 20, 2014

I took the test in Salem about 10 years ago. In my drivers' ed class, we were warned that if we took the test in Manchester (part of the reason I chose to go to Salem), we could end up with the tester who refused to put his seatbelt on. I was raised in a household in which we all wore our seatbelts and would have refused to drive with an unbuckled passenger. His MO seemed to be about the lack of an adult seatbelt law in the state, and were I more assertive I would have gone to Manchester, hoped he ended up in my car, and explained to him that while I knew the law, my car rules required that he wear his seatbelt.

So, you may be required to know (lack of) mandatory seatbelt laws!
posted by casualinference at 2:02 PM on January 20, 2014

I took mine in Keene, albeit over ten years ago. We left the DMV, which was off a two-lane road, pulled onto the bypass, took the next exit to turn back ON to the bypass and return to the roads around the DMV, and then pulled into a parking lot. We drove into a corner, and I had to back into a space. (It took me two tries because I was so damn nervous, but I still passed.) No parallel parking. We drove back to the DMV and that was it! The parking lot was the sinker for all my friends, because there was a stop sign mounted on a building as opposed to a pole. I'm sure that lot was specifically chosen for that feature! Make sure you maintain a roving eye pattern - crosswalks, rearview mirror, etc. - as you drive. When merging onto a freeway, make sure you check your blind spot by physically turning your head as you merge in.
Also, when you first enter the car, check/adjust your mirrors. Good luck!
posted by missmary6 at 6:02 PM on January 20, 2014