Driving tests

Career opportunities in driving

If you love the idea of driving for a living, or having an occupation that involves a lot of driving, this article explains what career choices you can make. Car Delivering goods Courier – deliver parcels and goods usually in

Tagged with: | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Commentary drives: what are they and how can it improve your driving?

If you are just learning to drive you might be feeling inundated with everything you have to take in – road signs, other vehicles, lane markings and more. Once you’ve been driving a while, trying a commentary drive can take

Tagged with: | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

10 ways to improve your fuel economy

If you need to save some money, looking at how and what you drive can help. Most of us don’t drive in the most fuel economical way, but we look to try to buy a more fuel economical car to

Tagged with: | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Driving after taking medicine

At some point in your life you will take some medication. It might be for a headache or to alleviate the symptoms of a cold or virus, or it might be for something like high blood pressure. Certain types of

Tagged with: | Posted in Advice, Car, Driver health, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Smoking while driving – physical and physiological dangers and risks

What happens when you smoke and drive? The physical process of smoking The act of taking a cigarette out of the packet, finding your lighter and coordinating your hand or hands to light the cigarette means you are likely to

Tagged with: | Posted in Advice, Car, Driver health, Fleet, Heavy Vehicle

New driver licence format changes

If you have a car (class 1) or motorbike (class 6) licence there are new time limits being introduced from 1 December 2014 and a newly designed licence. The class 1 and class 6 learner and restricted licences will be

Tagged with: | Posted in Car, Driver licence, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike, News

Using a life coach to help you pass your driving test

If you’ve been struggling to find the motivation or confidence to go for your driving licence, or you have fears and phobias about driving, perhaps a life coach can help you. Having a driving licence will give you added mobility

Tagged with: , , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Can you drive with diabetes

Diabetes creates some risks with the things you’ll need to do while driving. Knowing them allows you to manage them so that you can continue driving without causing a risk to other road users. If you are a young person

Tagged with: | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Using hypnotherapy to help you pass your driving test

There are a few techniques and therapies you can use to give you more chance of passing your driving test and in this article we cover hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy can be used to improve your confidence, reduce nervousness, improve your spatial

Tagged with: , | Posted in Advice, Car, Driver health, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Six ways you will fail your heavy vehicle practical test

If you’re taking your heavy vehicle licence you’ll have spent a lot of time and money practising, so you want to get it right first time. We spoke to two senior heavy vehicle instructors, Iain at Passrite in Auckland and

Tagged with: | Posted in Advice, Heavy Vehicle

Using visualisation techniques to help you pass your driving test

Visualisation is a technique commonly used by sportspeople and musicians to accustom their brains to performing a particular action. It is simply the process of imagining something happening – a kind of mental rehearsal just like you would rehearse for

Tagged with: | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Use affirmations to help with your driving test

Affirmations or ‘self-talk’ is a common and simple way in which you can improve your performance. You can use it to help you improve your memory so that you remember the Road Code quicker and more effectively, reduce nervousness when

Tagged with: , , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Skidding explained: oversteer, understeer, hydroplaning and wheelspin

A skid is where your vehicle’s tyres lose traction on the road surface and it can be caused by too much acceleration, too much braking or too much turning force for the road surface. Some of the advice you will hear

Tagged with: , , , , , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Eight new vehicle technologies for safety and convenience

As vehicle manufacturers constantly attempt to outdo one another in convenience, comfort and safety, new features appear on premium models and then gradually trickle down to the mainstream models. While automotive manufacturers sometimes develop their own systems, many of the

Tagged with: , , , , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle

Rumble strips: what are they used for?

Rumble strips, raised profile line markings or audio tactile profiled (ATP) road markings, are road markings that generate noise and vibration when you drive over them. The lines are painted like normal road markings except the machine drops ridges (also

Tagged with: , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Spring and Daylight Saving bring more risk of truck crashes

Spring starts today and Daylight Saving starts on the last Sunday of September. Both of these have the effect of increasing the risk of accidents among truck drivers. Truck drivers often work the kind of hours that gives them an

Tagged with: , | Posted in Advice, Heavy Vehicle

Signage clutter: what is it and how is it reduced?

Roading authorities need to convey a certain amount of information to help you drive. Regulatory and advisory signs, street signs, road markings and traffic signals have to compete against advertising hoardings, vehicle signage and other distractions on and off the

Tagged with: , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike

Seat belt law in New Zealand

Wearing safety belts The driver is responsible for ensuring all passengers under 15 years of age wear seat belts. Passengers 15 years of age and over are responsible for putting seat belts on themselves. If you are riding a motorbike,

Tagged with: , , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike, Road Code

Tourist information signs in New Zealand

Historic tourist information signs were yellow pole-mounted signs, and you can still see some of these around in rural areas. Newer signs are brown with white writing. Not all tourist facilities warrant a sign. NZTA divides tourist facilities into five

Tagged with: , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike, Road Signs

Where can you park and for how long?

Parking permission signs Parking signs are usually blue with white writing. Apart from 5-minute parking, they are in increments of 10 minutes up to 60 minutes, then in 60-minute intervals up to 240 minutes. At the edge of each parking

Tagged with: , , | Posted in Advice, Car, Heavy Vehicle, Motorbike