Lately I’ve been studying for the Subject 3 driving exam, and I started jotting down the key points as a way to make them stick.

The location markers below are specific to the test site I’m practicing at, so some of the references may look oddly specific if you’re not familiar with the same course.

General notes

Keeping the car centered without touching the lane lines

Sit upright and keep your eyes as far down the road as possible. Don’t stare at the area right in front of the car. Use small steering corrections so that your right foot appears to line up with the center of the lane in your field of view. The farther ahead you look, the easier it is to hold the car in the middle.

Start-of-exam procedure

1. Get in the car, complete facial recognition, present your ID, then get out and press the required check points around the vehicle in order.
2. Get back in. When you hear “Please start the engine,” put on the seat belt first. Then press the clutch all the way down, turn the key firmly to the end, release the clutch, and turn on the lights.
3. Follow the voice prompts. Every time, wait until the prompt has completely finished before operating anything.
4. Complete the lighting test.
5. When the system says, “Please turn off all lights,” wait until the sentence finishes before switching them off. If the lights are in high-beam mode at the end, switch back to low beam first and then turn them off.

Moving off

1. Turn on the left indicator and honk twice.
2. Press the clutch, shift into first gear, and keep the clutch down.
3. Check behind you. If no vehicle is coming, release the handbrake. It has a button, so lift it slightly first, then lower it.
4. Straighten the steering wheel. Slowly lift the clutch to the biting point, hold the car there for 2–3 seconds so the vibration becomes obvious, then fully release the clutch. Move into the fast lane and straighten the car.

Pulling over and stopping

1. Turn on the right indicator.
2. Shift from second into first.
3. After the right indicator has been flashing for 5 seconds, sit squarely, rest your right foot on the brake, and turn the steering wheel about 60 degrees to the right. Wait until the tip of the wiper in your view lines up slightly right of the curb. Then turn the wheel left to straighten the car, and begin making small rightward corrections. Whatever amount you adjust, unwind by the same amount. When the wiper tip again lands slightly right of the curb, straighten the body of the car, then press the clutch and brake to stop.

End-of-exam shutdown

1. Shift to neutral.
2. Pull up the handbrake. Do not press the button.
3. Turn off the engine by twisting the key forward.
4. Open the door, then close it.

Shifting gears

Lightly push the gear lever out of the current gear, then let go. It will spring back to neutral by itself. After that, shift into the target gear.

Route details

Route A

On this route, once the oncoming-traffic maneuver is finished in the first half, you should immediately accelerate toward 40 km/h.

There are two self-initiated lane changes:

1. In the second half, after the overtaking maneuver, change on your own into the fast lane to prepare for a left turn into another fast lane.
2. On the final straight, after passing the intersection, change on your own into the slow lane to prepare for parking.

Sequence

1. Move off, shift into second, and after the pedestrian crossing accelerate into third.
2. Wait for the lane-change voice prompt.
3. Wait for the oncoming-traffic voice prompt.
4. After returning from that maneuver, accelerate, shift into fourth, and push up to about 40 km/h. Confirm out of the corner of your eye that the speed is enough, hold it for 5 seconds, then go back to third.
5. Coast straight ahead. Before the right-turn intersection, when you are about two parking spaces from the turn sign, downshift to second. When the system announces the right turn, signal, and once the front of the car has crossed the stop line, turn into the slow lane. Straighten the car, then return to third.
6. Continue straight for a while. It’s a fairly long stretch, so focus on keeping the car straight while waiting for the straight-driving prompt.
7. When the system announces straight driving, first make sure the car is already aligned. Press the accelerator, count to five, release the throttle, then count to five again. Keep your eyes far ahead the whole time and let your right foot line up with the center of the road. Keep making small steering corrections whenever needed. The steering wheel must move—don’t be afraid to adjust it.
8. After straight driving, prepare for the U-turn. Once the front of the car passes the asphalt mark, downshift to second.
9. When the U-turn prompt comes, signal left. Once your shoulder passes the U-turn sign, turn the wheel fully left, enter the slow lane, and then return to third. After that, just follow the prompts.
10. Keep going straight. After the overtaking maneuver, change on your own into the fast lane.
11. For the left turn, when you are two parking spaces from the sign, downshift to second, make the turn, enter the fast lane, then go back to third.
12. After the intersection, change on your own into the slow lane.
13. After passing the iron gate, downshift to second.
14. When the prompt for pulling over ahead is given, signal right and downshift to first. Sit upright, rest your right foot on the brake, turn the wheel right about 60 degrees until the wiper tip aligns with the middle-right side of the curb, then turn left to straighten. Make small rightward corrections, unwinding each one by the same amount. When the wiper tip once again meets the middle-right side of the curb, straighten the car and stop with clutch and brake.
15. Keep the clutch and brake pressed. First shift to neutral, then raise the handbrake, then turn the key forward to switch off the engine. Finally open the door and close it.

Route B

The turn sequence here is left, left, right, right.

Before the first turn, stay in second and just roll along. Right after the second turn, accelerate to fourth gear and push to 40 km/h.

There is one self-initiated lane change: shortly after starting, you complete the prompted lane change, then change back on your own into the fast lane to prepare for the left turn.

There is also a small bend in the straight-driving section. Only after the car has passed the bend and been straightened should you add throttle and begin the straight-driving portion.

Sequence

1. Move off, shift into second, complete the prompted lane change, then change back on your own into the fast lane.
2. Make the first left turn in second. After the turn, shift into third.
3. On Route B, the second turn is also a left turn. After that left turn, accelerate into fourth and push to 40 km/h.
4. There is a fairly long stretch where you can just roll at idle. At every fork or intersection, take the right-side lane.
5. At the straight-driving prompt, note that there is a small bend here. Pass the bend first and straighten the car, then look far ahead, accelerate, and hold the straight line with small steering corrections.
6. After passing a factory gate, downshift to second and prepare for the U-turn.
7. When the U-turn prompt is given, signal left. Once the front of the car enters the dashed-line area, first steer slightly right until the wiper tip lines up with the curb on the right, then turn the wheel fully left to make the U-turn. Straighten the car and return to third.
8. Continue keeping to the right and follow the prompts throughout.
9. On the second right turn, which is also the final intersection, make sure you turn into the slow lane, because an overtaking maneuver still comes afterward.
10. When the overtaking prompt is given, complete it and then downshift to second.
11. After passing the roadside manhole cover or obstacle marker, downshift to first.
12. When the prompt comes, signal right, count to five, rest your right foot on the brake, steer toward the curb, straighten, make small corrections, find the curb again, straighten the body of the car, stop, shift to neutral, raise the handbrake, open the door, and close it.

Route C

The turn sequence here is left, right, left, left, right, right.

After the second turn, accelerate into fourth and push to 40 km/h.

This route does not require any self-initiated lane changes.

For the most part, you can simply follow the voice prompts all the way through.

The last right-turn intersection is under road construction, so you need to take the left-side lane. Downshift to second before the bend. Once your shoulder passes the roadwork sign, begin turning. After the turn, staying in second is enough.

When the prompt to pull over is given, signal, place your right foot on the brake, count, turn the wheel, find the curb, straighten, make small corrections, find the curb again, straighten the car, stop, shift to neutral, pull the handbrake, turn the key forward to switch off the engine, then open and close the door.

Random thoughts

The whole thing gives me the same kind of nerves I used to get before major entrance exams.

I’ve never been especially fond of this kind of memorize-the-template testing, but given the real constraints—very limited time, far too many students, and everything else that comes with it—rote memorization does seem like the best local solution.

Too many monks, too little porridge. Annoying, honestly.