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Automotive & MechanicsKeeping a safe, legal speed on city streets
On the straight stretches of a business district or a residential street, the examiner scores how you watch for hazards, your speed, your spacing and your place in the lane. Driving 10 mph over the limit, or 10 under without a reason, is a critical driving error. It is the city and residential driving of the California DMV Class C driving test.
Free to startScenarios
- A straight street in a business or urban district.
- A residential or rural street.
- Driving through the parking lot at the start of the test.
- Rain, bad weather or darkness.
The steps
- Watch for hazards ahead and behind you, and to the left or right.
- React safely to traffic at the entrances to the road, to pedestrians and bicyclists, and to cars parking.
- Keep to the speed limit without going over it.
- Never drive 10 mph over the speed limit. Critical point
- Never drive 10 mph under the limit when the road, pedestrians, bicyclists or traffic do not call for it. Critical point
- Never drive too fast or too slow for safety. Critical point
- Slow down for hazards or obstructions.
- Keep a safe distance to the front and sides of your car.
- Keep the car in the center of the lane.
- In the parking lot, drive at a safe speed and stay in control of the car.
- Turn on the windshield wipers, the defroster or the headlights when the weather or darkness requires them. Critical point
To pass
- Each item here that you miss is marked as an error on the scoring maneuvers; you pass with no more than 15 of them.
- A step marked critical is a critical driving error: a single one fails the test.
Official source
California · DMV, DL 955
Driving Test Criteria (DL 955)
The California DMV publishes its Driving Test Criteria (DL 955) free: the pre-drive checklist, the scoring criteria and the critical driving errors.
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