Sam’s case is not unusual out there. It triggers the writing about this issue and hopefully by sharing our experience we can help more “parents” stay tuned. Sam passed the P test with a high score after only one lesson before the 3rd test (he did a few hours lessons at the very beginning though). The “parents” here may also refer to partners, uncles/aunties, brothers/sisters, cousins or friends etc as long as they are supervising new drivers. They usually got their licenses quite a while ago so lacking the real time updates of what have changed through years.
Lets find out the common differences between the RTA version and the “parents” version:
1) Over shoulder checks and checks in front of traffic lights
Many drivers out there could have developed a habit of inconsistent blindspot checks(over shoulder checks). They just look at the mirrors only and change lanes etc, and the learners could become the same. Also the new drivers now are required to check any one running the red light before proceeding, but many “parents” are not aware of this simple but life saving skill. The P test only allows max 2 observations check miss, its too easy without proper training!
2) Stop Sign 
We all learnt what “stop” means early in kindie however still many adults failed to stop in front of the solid line. Many think they “stop” while still slow rolling, or stop on top of the solid line. Something as simple as this can cause a fail.
3) Turning position
A wide left turn or a right turn cutting corner is not safe anymore, please refer to the page 14/15 of Guide to driving test
4) Speed
Well I live here too and I see many drivers drive over the speed limits, if this passed to the new driver, he/she won’t last long in the P test…
5) Orange light (or yellow/amber light) handling
Again most drivers out there would do “go before it turns red”, however the test requires “stop if safe to do so” (P28 of Guide to driving test)
6) Crossing lines unnecessarily including invisible middle lines in small streets
Well an adult driver crossing a solid line, or drive on the other side of a small street unnecessarily the consequence is almost nothing, but for P test its a fail. More info see P 29 of Guide to driving test
7) Signals (blinkers)
Many drivers signal very short time or simply no signal, but the test requires longer than 3~5 seconds signals, also signal left when existing a roundabout (Castle Hill and Mt Druitt drivers be aware!). See P31 of Guide to driving test
8) “Rush in” Decisions
All drivers are supposed to have enough space before joining traffic, but we can see plenty of drivers cut people in on a daily basis. The new drivers could be infected with this habit too so causing a fail item in the test. See P31 of Guide to driving test
There are more things however these are the common ones that would explain why my kid could fail the P test.
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Our suggestions to supervising drivers are: Your role is very valuable and important in bring up the new drivers for our roads, however please pay attention to these version differences and try to train your new driver in the updated way. Read the Guide to driving test. Seek professional help if possible, or if your kid learnt already these new skills from a good instructor please don’t teach them back to the older version (for the value of your money and the safety of new driver :=).
For the new drivers, please communicate with your supervising driver before hand (and nicely), hold on to what you learnt from school as much as possible, while broadening your driving experience with supervising drivers.
Happy supervising/driving!
