
The Redwood City office is half the distance to M-A as the next closest DMV, San Mateo, and is open on Saturdays, a service provided by neither San Mateo nor Fremont. It is important to be comfortable driving in an urban environment, but it is an additional speed bump in the route to passing the test. While this, in theory, doesn’t sound particularly difficult, the increase in pedestrians and cars creates a whole new category of rules and regulations to be aware of.
#CALIFORNIA DRIVERS TEST INSTA FAILS DRIVER#
One thing to be conscious of with the Redwood City test is that the routes generally take the driver through downtown Redwood City. On the flip side, the wait was horrible.” He went on to say that “unless you want to lose your entire afternoon, go to any other office”. “The driving test is not particularly easy, but my driving instructor was reading a newspaper, which gave me slightly more leeway. “The best way to describe the Redwood City DMV is as frustrating,” said Will Flanagan, junior, and a Redwood City DMV driving test alum. Out of all the local DMV, the Redwood City office is notorious for the difficulty of its driving test. While it may be the most conveniently located, the Redwood City DMV has some serious drawbacks. With this in mind, here are the three primary options for DMVs in the Menlo Park/Palo Alto area. Each office has its benefits and drawbacks, but at the end of the day, what matters is the outcome of the test. It is a good idea to be aware of which office one takes their test at. When asked what he thought would have helped him pass, Reis said, “I wish I had known more about what I was up against at the Redwood City DMV, If I went in prepared, maybe I would have ended up passing.”

Reis went to the Redwood City Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), which is the closest DMV to M-A. I forgot to check my blind spot, which was simple enough, but that instantly failed me”, he said. “I did my fifty hours, in fact, I probably did more than that, but I still failed. Another junior, Ian Reis, is one of these unfortunate few. Of course, not everyone has such immediate success. Velasquez went on to say that the 50 hours was “plenty, if you do that, you should be completely ready for your license.” According to the California Driver Handbook, youth drivers need to complete 50 hours of supervised driving practice before their test, which is what the state deems enough to become a competent driver. If you drive enough, failing your driving test is pretty difficult”, said Velasquez. For students like junior Sebastian Velasquez, the driving test is not a problem. I speak, of course, of the driver’s test.Īlternatively, some students have no trouble with the driver’s test. One where everything you do is held against you, where even the tamest of mistakes is bombarded with unreserved scrutiny. To become a driver, though, you must first win in a battle of seemingly insurmountable odds. Although California has seen over a 10% decrease in the number of teen drivers in the last decade, the traffic jam that is the student parking lot is proof enough that M-A has no shortage of drivers. Basically, the car's regenerative braking system was engaging, which was apparently against the evaluator's rules.Driving is a rite of passage for teens and a staple of the American high school experience. The failure was due to the Model 3's "automatic engage" feature. According to the story, the DMV examiner noted that she could "feel the brakes" even though the driver wasn't pushing them. Of course, the professor took the test again, and now that he was aware of the issue, he made sure the technology was off. The reasons specified by the DMV evaluator were as follows: the car wasn't set the "Chill Mode" and the steering wasn't set to "Comfort." Essentially, the DMV said the Tesla's technology wasn't "off," which leads to driving test failure. Little did he know it would be nearly impossible to pass the driving test with the Tesla sedan.īased on the story the professor shared with Teslarati, he failed the test the first time.


This way, he could use the family's Model 3 to head to the university for his teaching job. Following the move, it was time for him to get a new US driver's license. What gives?Īs the story goes, the professor relocated to California for a new teaching job at the University of California. We're not talking about issues with the professor's driving, or giving up after one failed driving evaluation, but rather, repeated failures for various car-related reasons, along with turning the man away when he attempted to test again with a rental car.
