🚗 Vehicle control
Before the driving even starts, the examiner is scoring how you sit, buckle, hold the wheel, and start the car — and if your vehicle has a manual transmission, you'll be asked to demonstrate correct gear shifting. None of it is hard, and all of it is points.
What the examiner is watching for
- ✓Seat belt fastened, seat adjusted so all pedals and controls are within easy reach
- ✓Hands gripping the outside rim at the 9 and 3 o'clock positions, thumbs along the face of the wheel
- ✓Hand-over-hand steering through turns, with both hands on the wheel except when shifting or signaling
- ✓Proper horn use — a warning tool, audible from 200 feet, not a venting tool
Step by step
- 1Walk around the car before getting in — check behind and in front for children and objects.
- 2Adjust the seat about an arm's length from the wheel, then set both mirrors.
- 3Fasten your seat belt and confirm passengers are belted; the driver is responsible for everyone under 18.
- 4Grip the wheel at 9 and 3, thumbs along the face — this also protects your hands if the air bag deploys.
- 5Start with the vehicle in park or neutral and the parking brake set, then check your path by turning and looking back.
Mistakes that cost points
- ✗Gripping the wheel from the inside of the rim, which the manual warns never to do
- ✗Steering one-handed through maneuvers
- ✗Forgetting the pre-start checks — belts, mirrors, and a clear path
- ✗Overusing the horn, or not knowing it when asked
The other 5 skills NJ grades
FullPass is an independent study aid. Road-test guidance is written from official MVC test requirements; your examiner and the Motor Vehicle Commission remain the final authority.