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RMV going back to requiring road-test takers to have their own cars
By adamg on Fri, 04/15/2022 - 2:34pm
No more pandemic-related state cars at road tests starting May 2, the Registry announced today: Starting then, people going for a road test will need to come with their own car.
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Comments
They also need to update the requirements of the cars
Having had two kids go through this in recent years, we found it difficult to show up with a car that qualifies. The car needs a center-console emergency brake handle AND can not have a rear backing camera. Both times we had to borrow a friend's old, tired car for the test, which meant the kids were testing on a car they weren't very familiar with.
They should just allow you to cover the camera display. Not sure what they can do about the center brake.
They let you cover the camera
We put blue painter tape over the lens and that was satisfactory.
Also did a great job of removing all the grime.
Center break? That’s tricky!
Most SUVs and trucks have floor breaks. Same with electric cars and a lot of new sedans.
Thinking through my family, my wife and I have older cars (2008 and 2013) and both have center breaks. But my in laws have two Honda crossovers with floor breaks. My parents have an SUV and a sedan with electric breaks.
I don’t even know who I’d ask if I didn’t have a car that met the requirements.
Also, all cars have been required to have backup cameras for at least a few years.
BMW and Audi haven’t had a manual brake in a long time
I’ve been through a lot of car recently and the last one that had a hand brake was in 2012. They’re going to need to change that requirement or provide a test car very shortly.
One problem with a provided test car
It may be a model you've never driven before. Even an experienced driver is going to take a moment to adjust to a car they've never driven before.
So an inexperienced driver, being *tested* by an often authoritarian-esk stranger, in a car they've never driven before is not an ideal testing condition, particularly when they now ask you to parallel park between TWO CONES instead of real cars at many of the RMVs. The only time some people will ever parallel park is to pass the damn road test, and you learn it by parking between real cars, so now you are in a high pressure test, in a car you've never driven before, being asked to parallel park between imaginary cars.
I know that if you learn to drive through a driving school, they often have an option to rent one of their test-compliant cars along with a pre-test driving session so you can get comfortable with that unfamiliar car before the test.
Admittedly, when I took my road test, I borrowed a neighbors car with the center brake and the only time I had ever driven that car was the mile I took it to the RMV for the test.
Parallel parking?? Is that
Parallel parking?? Is that like double parking for people who aren’t Assholes?
Hey
Sometimes you need to parallel park just to double park!
Yeah, those durn Fusions they used
When she finally realized she'd need a license after graduating (for an internship in a remote area where she'd be expected to drive), the kidlet learned in our Prius (don't worry: I'd always first turn off the big screen display o' mileage/performance that nobody needs to see except obsessive/compulsive Prius drivers). But when we took a trip down to Milford, where her test was scheduled, so she could drive around that area, we saw they used Ford Fusions, which are larger and have such outrageous things as a gear selector in the center console, rather than hanging off the dashboard like God intended, so we switched over to our Camry for a bit.
In the end, it didn't matter, since she was allowed a few minutes to get used to the way the Fusion worked before she went out for her road test.
Gimme a break, er, brake
sorry.....
real weird req
That's really weird that they don't allow backup cameras given that they're now required equipment on all new cars.
Why don't we do it in the
Why don't we do it in the road?
Paul is dead
Paul is dead