Class 5 road test: what to expect and how to prepare

Exact routes and details vary, and your instructor teaches to Alberta standards. In general, examiners watch whether you drive safely and predictably:

• Observation — mirror checks and clear shoulder checks before turns, lane changes and merges.
• Following rules — signs, signals, speed limits, school and playground zones.
• Complete stops at stop signs and smooth braking at lights.
• Right of way — yielding properly at intersections and to pedestrians.
• Vehicle control — steering, lane position, following distance, and parking or reversing.

1. Book the test through a registry office: Book a road test (Government of Alberta).
2. Do a mock test. A 2-hour lesson ($105) where your instructor plays the examiner and gives you a report card on every skill.
3. Practise the weak spots — usually parking, lane changes or busy intersections — in the area where you'll be tested.
4. Sort the vehicle. It must be licensed, insured and in safe condition, or use ours for $85.

• Arrive early, and keep your learner's or valid licence with you.
• Listen to each instruction fully. If you aren't sure, ask the examiner to repeat it.
• Exaggerate your head turns so the examiner can see you checking.
• Breathe out slowly at red lights; it resets your nerves.
• One small slip isn't the same as a dangerous mistake. Keep driving safely and don't dwell on it.

Nervous? That's normal. Lida Noori teaches in English, Farsi/Dari, Hindi and Urdu, so you can practise and ask questions in the language you're most comfortable in.