Driving tests

General and advisory signs in New Zealand

General advisory signs are usually (with a couple of exceptions) white with a black border and black writing. No exit signs. The blue and black variants are not official versions and it’s unlikely you’ll see them frequently, if at all

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General and class-restricted parking signs in New Zealand

The following are general and class-restricted parking signs and are all blue signs with white writing. They indicate where you are allowed to park, for how long or when, and what type of vehicles the parking applies to. Then try

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Regulatory parking signs in New Zealand

The following are regulatory parking signs in New Zealand. Once you’ve studied them, check out the Road Code sign questions here. You may want to check out our other road sign posts such as these regulatory road signs and these

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Heavy vehicle signs in New Zealand

Here are regulatory signs that relate primarily to heavy vehicles. You can check out road sign questions from the Road Code for heavy vehicles here. Heavy vehicles are not allowed    Bus lane    This shows the maximum length of

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Regulatory road signs in New Zealand

Here are the road signs you’ll come across in New Zealand that are regulatory, i.e. they prohibit you from doing something, or restrict you to doing something. To test your knowledge after you have viewed these signs, head over to

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Learning how to navigate

Whether you’re just learning to drive or you are a visiting tourist about to take off on an adventure, it helps to know how to navigate in New Zealand. If you’re familiar with the countryside then you’ll know there are

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Safer driving by anticipating other drivers’ movements

Safe driving is about anticipating what is going to happen before it actually happens. You don’t want to be a solely reactive driver because this puts you at more risk of being in a situation you can’t drive around. Fortunately

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Driving Safely on Motorways

New Zealand doesn’t have an extensive motorway network like, for example, the UK, but if you live in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin then you might need to drive on them frequently, not including the few expressways in Tauranga, Waikato,

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Making your driving test a relaxing experience

If the thought of taking your driving test fills you with dread and you are anxious about being overcome with nerves, there are some proven techniques you can use to calm yourself. Give yourself a better chance of passing your

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Watch your diet before you take your driving test

Food is the fuel for our body, so in the same way you wouldn’t put sand in your petrol tank if you want to extract peak performance from your engine, you should look at what you are putting in your

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Common mistakes new drivers make, and how to avoid them

Now you’ve got your full licence you’re free to roam this great country and there are thousands of kilometres of spectacular driving to be had. However, you’re still a novice at driving and there will be situations that you won’t

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Labour Weekend traffic

NZTA is advising drivers to start planning their Labour Weekend travel so they can avoid the inevitable snarl-ups, particularly north of Auckland. Drivers wanting to avoid congestion on SH1 can take SH16 between Wellsford and either the Silverdale interchange on

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The biggest driving distractions

Ideally, we should spend our time 100% focused on the road while driving, but that never happens because our brains develop efficient little subroutines that take care of the mundaneness. We then occupy ourselves with deliberate distractions, like singing to

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Speed limit passing a stationary school bus will be more rigorously enforced

If you are driving around when school buses are operating you may not be aware that there is a 20kph speed limit if you are passing a school bus dropping off or picking up children, regardless of which direction you

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How do you avoid a speeding fine?

In New Zealand the usual tolerance is 10kph over the limit, and in holiday periods this is dropped to 4kph. There is some contention over whether this is successful in achieving a reduction in fatalities and as the practice is

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Self-driving cars will mean you won’t need a licence

Get behind the wheel of a car in New Zealand and you need a licence to take it on a public road. But what happens if the car is driverless; autonomous; self-driving? We don’t have a legal requirement for a

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