Driving tests

19: Reversing into a driveway

The aim of this lesson is to legally and safely reverse into a driveway that’s on the left-hand side from a road. You’ll need to be driving in a 50kph zone on a two-way road with driveways and light traffic flow. You’ll need to be able to see 50m in either direction and have no parked vehicles obscuring visibility.

You can learn this skill in our low-speed manoeuvring course.

Driver actions

  • When driving, indicate for at least three seconds before positioning your car safely just past the driveway and about 1m from the kerb.
  • Indicate left for at least three seconds, check around (360 degrees), including your mirrors, through the rear window, forwards and over your shoulders.
  • Give way to pedestrians if relevant.
  • Turn to look out of the back window while reversing. You should also have your left-hand mirror set correctly and this will be able to help you judge your position, particularly if you have a car with a small rear window and thick rear pillars which will obscure you view.
  • If you have a reversing camera, do not rely on it for your manoeuvre as the camera distorts the image giving a false sense of distance.
  • Reverse the vehicle into the driveway ensuring there’s an equal amount of space on either side. You can use your mirrors to help you judge this if your rear window is small
  • Put the gearbox in neutral (manual) or park (automatic), put the handbrake/park brake on and turn the engine off.
  • During the reversing manoeuvre, you must drive at a safe speed throughout.

Perform the tasks at least twice.

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