Learn the road rules
On your P's you will only have four demerit points, which can be deducted if you break road rules - you could lose your licence by making one or two mistakes. It pays to know the road rules.
Learn your state or territory’s road rules early to get a head start, by studying the road rules book and paying close attention from the passenger seat.
Learning the road rules in a practical setting will not only help you make better sense of them, it’s also excellent preparation for your learner's licence/permit test.
Activity: Practicing road rules from the passenger seat
- Get the road rules book for your State or Territory, and keep it in the car.
- Choose a section of the book each time you’re in the car and memorise a few rules that will match where you are going to drive (e.g. study up on parking or traffic lights for inner city driving).
- When you are in the car, notice what your driver and other drivers are doing. Are they obeying the rules? Learn from other people's mistakes.
- Talk to your parent/supervisor about what you notice and ask them to explain anything you don’t understand.
- If your parent/supervisor agrees to it, trying guiding them to drive correctly. For example, you could say “At this intersection you will have to give way to…” or “You can park here but only until four o’clock'.
Activity: Play Police
Here are some of the road rules drivers often don’t get right - learn the rules yourself and see if you can catch them out:
- Speed limits and speed limit signs
- Following immediately behind another car
- Amber traffic lights
- Parking signs and lines (particularly No Parking and No Standing)
- Lanes for turning
- Signalling when pulling out from parked position, changing lanes, moving into and off roundabouts
- Giving way to pedestrians
- Passing bicycle riders