The Hawaii DMV road test: booking, car check and the drive

How do you schedule a Hawaii DMV road test?

On Oahu, book on the city's road test scheduler with your permit number, name, date of birth and a card for the $8 fee, which isn't refundable. Tests run at Kapahulu, Kapolei, Koolau, Wahiawa and Waianae. There are no walk-ins, but a next-day standby list opens online by 4:30 p.m. at every location except Waianae and the commercial office. Arrive 30 minutes early. Five or more minutes late counts as a no-show, which forfeits the fee and stops you booking again for 60 days. To cancel or move a test, do it online before 6 a.m. on the day.

On Kauai, book on the DMV appointment page. If you're under 18, you enter both certificate numbers and your instructor's number when you book. Check in 15 minutes before your time, on your phone or at the kiosks at the front of the DMV. You get a refund only if you cancel at least 24 hours ahead.

Hawaii road test requirements: papers and the car check

Bring your permit, the car's current registration, a Hawaii motor vehicle insurance card and a current safety inspection certificate, with the decal on the car. Photocopies aren't accepted, and the owner's name and vehicle number must match on the registration and insurance card. Your supervising driver, 21 or older with a valid license, must stay from the moment you're called until the test ends.

Before the drive, the examiner checks the car. On both islands that includes:

• Turn signals, brake lamps and horn that work, with no cracked lamp lenses
• Tires with at least 2/32 of an inch of tread and all lug nuts in place
• Window tint approved on the safety inspection certificate
• Front and rear plates mounted properly
• Seat belts, door handles, windows and locks in working order
• A clean cabin with nothing in the way, and a convertible or Jeep-type top closed

Oahu also wants at least a quarter tank of gas, or a 25% charge in an electric car, and no windshield chips or cracks larger than a dime. If the car fails the check, there's no test that day. Rental and company cars need extra paperwork, and the rules differ: Kauai allows a rental only for a driver with a foreign license and an international driving permit who is named on the rental agreement.

What the examiner checks on the drive

The manual says you'll be asked to show that you can:

• Start the car and drive through a business district
• Parallel park
• Signal, turn, start and stop properly
• Move off on a slight hill without rolling back
• Obey traffic laws and drive safely

You won't be asked to break any law, there are no tricks, and no passengers may ride along. You can't take the test in an autocycle. On Oahu, phones and dashboard cameras aren't allowed during the test, and you can't rely on a backup camera or self-parking feature. Neither county publishes a score sheet; the examiner explains your result after the drive.

After you pass or fail

On Kauai, if you pass, the examiner sends you to the licensing desk for your provisional license, and if you fail, you book another test. On Oahu, a passing score is valid for 30 days, and any outstanding traffic violations must be cleared with the State Traffic Violations Bureau within those 30 days, or you take the road test again.