Learning 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
- Merging
- Giving way to pedestrians
- Passing bicycle riders
Next activity: how to think like a
driver
