Alberta Driving Test
 

Driving in Canada is a frequently asked question, with new drivers worrying about the test and the regular debate on Canadians being worse drivers than those taught in the UK.

My Daughter has recently completed drivers ed' and today passed her test:thumbsup::eek: The test involved driving around town, a parallel park and a parking on a hill.

There was no dual carriageway type driving, no reversing around the corner, no emergency stop, no roundabout (there is one in Red Deer), no hill start, yet she is now licensed to drive. Honestly, it's a worry.:ohmy:

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

i've heard its just Albertans who are terrible drivers! :lol:

but yeah, it does seem super easy to get a license over here compared to the rigmarole we have to go through in the UK!

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

And after driving for 20 years, I'm going to have to sit the same test as I only have an Aus license. Sounds easy enough then :thumbsup:

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

im guessing its because nobody knows how to use a roundabout..and also most cars are automatics and have an automatic clutch so no need for any of that hill start stuff as it does not apply.

Any way there is no debate between Canadian driving and UK driving..Canadians are just shit drivers end of.

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

I've been driving in Calgary for about a month now, and witnessed some *terrible* driving! Honestly, people just don't seem to look before they swerve into the next lane.... :/

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

I actually did a driving test in BC a few years ago. I drove around some streets for 20 minutes and that was it. I didn't do any of the parking or reversing manoeuvres or anything like that (well apart from parking back at the test centre). The test was so short that I assumed I'd royally ****ed up and was just being put out of my misery, but no I passed. This was supposedly at one of the more difficult (by reputation) test centres in Vancouver:confused:

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

The thought of our 18 year old behind the wheel here terrifies me, the fact that our 10 year could in theory be behind the wheel in 4 years is even worse...though that ain't gonna happen.

Alberta drivers are the worst I have ever experienced. Just about every day there seems to be a fatal accident around here, just another one last night :(

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

But you saying that, she could go out tomorrow and buy a standard and then drive to Sylvan lake where there IS a decent sized roundabout... No seriously I get why they don't do hill starts and roundabouts, I was just surprised there were no reversing round corners, three point turns etc, she is already worrying about parking at school as she has to fit inside the yellow lines which in her words "I'm crap at that!"

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

Go to a supermarket and practice with her for an hour or so.

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

That is the plan, she hasn't driven HER car yet (bless her she hasn't even SEEN it yet) so I do plan on being with her when she does drive it the first time and I will take her to a car park and try not to get run over :rofl:

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

Sign her up for an advanced drivers course with the AMA. If you wait a month or so she can take winter driving too. They are not overly cheap but are accredited courses and (from what a friend tells me whose son did one) save on insurance costs.

Helen

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

She had her first batch of lessons in January, so lots of snow around , I haven't taught her, we paid for an instructor, not AMA because they were far too expensive, so she does get her insurance discount.

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

I took my test in Langley. No roundabouts there but the examiner took me on a dual carriageway. He took me around town and by a school zone and a playground zone. He made me parallel park and reverse in a straight line. No emergency stop because a kid jumped out into the road halfway through the test and I managed to avoid killing her.

He told me I was an idiot for taking the test in a standard because it just gave him 80% more chances to fail me.

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

i doubt that should be an issue...most women dont seem to understand that those lines are there for parking in between anyway:p

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

I've been driving since Adam met Eve and I'm still a crap parker. I would like to do a course for driving in snow, The idea terrifies me.

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

Me too - I'm really not looking forward to winter driving. Do such courses exist?

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

Yes they do, check out your AMA or equivalent http://www.ama.ab.ca/driver-educatio...driving-course I keep thinking about doing one and then never get round to it...maybe this year (it will be our 8th winter:rofl:)

Oink, the reason women don't like to park in between the lines is because we don't want idiot men opening their car doors against our cars and dinging them;)

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

My daughter was learning standard (the lessons are more $'s), her instructor said to make sure she takes her test in a auto as it's easier:eek:

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

Must have been some very quiet streets! I started taking driving tests last year and failed 3 times before finally passing. First two were in Langley. The first one the examiner made me turn round a corner where the school zone sign was ON the corner, so I didn't see it and sped in the school zone, the second I failed because he took me through the horrible langley city centre which is always busy and the stress of the test plus the stress of the constant heavy traffic made me fail by cutting someone off on a right turn - the traffic on the road I was turning onto was stationary even though my light was red - I thought my light was about to turn green but instead it was their light that was about to turn green. After that I took the test in North Vancouver, and the driving instructor took me to a roundabout, it looked clear however there was a huge bush in the middle obstructing the view. I went into the roundabout and suddenly a car rushed round the roundabout from the other side (which I couldn't see) causing me to effectively cut him off making me auto-fail the test. I was not happy about that, however had that not happened, I would've passed which made me take the test in North Van again.

On the second test in North Vancouver it was a really nice examiner. I didn't make any mistakes, asides from not realising that a pedestrian standing at the corner of a crossroads is an implied crosswalk (you have to stop for them). Was so glad to pass the test finally.

The test is technically easy in a way, since it is a short test, but all it takes is one small mistake that makes you auto-fail and it's all over.

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

I know people that failed due to school zones and they are easy to miss - the worst thing about them for somebody new to driving here is that you to look out for the back of the other one to see where it ends. Cheap-ass canadians, too miserly for proper road signage.

Fortunately I did my test in august so there weren't any;)

Re: Alberta Driving Test
 

Check out the app in my signature. It's designed for new drivers who want to pass their Class 7 and existing drivers (especially immigrants) who require a refresher course. In Ontario, we are endorsed by the Ontario Safety League.