Full🔄 Turn-abouts & U-turns
CSMA 19 grades the turn-about: 'controls steering and operates vehicle in close quarters, watches traffic, signals correctly, changes gears and reduces speed and accelerates properly, stops for traffic.' The manual adds a rule worth memorizing — U-turns are considered as two left turns, so all left-turn yielding law applies twice.
What the examiner is watching for
- ✓Traffic watched throughout — before, during, and after the turn
- ✓Correct signals at each phase
- ✓Steering control in close quarters without curb contact
- ✓Smooth gear changes and speed control
Step by step
- 1Pick a legal spot with clear sight lines — no U-turns where signs prohibit them.
- 2Signal, stop if needed for traffic, and turn with the wheel committed early.
- 3Treat it as two left turns: yield as you'd yield for each.
- 4Straighten, accelerate smoothly, and settle into the proper lane.
Mistakes that cost points
- ✗Starting a turn-about with traffic closing — 'stops for traffic' is on the form
- ✗A three-point turn where one sweep would fit (or vice versa) — read the space first
- ✗Signal on for phase one but forgotten for phase two
- ✗Bumping the curb in close quarters
The other 5 skills VA grades
FullPass is an independent study aid. Road-test guidance is written from official DMV test requirements; your examiner and the Department of Motor Vehicles remain the final authority.