The Utah road test (driving skills test)

Where can you take the Utah road test?

You can take it in three places:

• At a Driver License Division office: be 16, bring your permit and your own registered car, and book a skills test appointment.
• In your driver education course: the result is sent to the division for you.
• With a certified third-party tester: you must have passed the written test first, and the tester charges its own fee on top of the license fee.

After a course or third-party test, book your license appointment: adult original if you're 21 or older, minor original if you're 20 or younger.

What's scored on the Utah road test

• General behavior, attitude and driving posture
• Using your lanes properly, including several lane changes
• Left, right and three-point turns, and U-turns
• Starting, stopping and backing
• Parking on hills, between cars and parallel parking
• Obeying signs and signals, steering and attention at intersections

Automatic fails

• A moving violation: speeding, rolling a stop, ignoring a sign or signal
• Not yielding to pedestrians or other road users
• An avoidable crash, or touching another car, object or person
• Any unsafe act that makes another driver swerve or brake
• Driving over a curb or sidewalk when you didn't need to
• The examiner having to take control, or driving too fast or too slow

What to bring, and what your car needs

Bring your permit, the car's registration and insurance, and the licensed person who drove you there: someone 21 or older, or a parent, guardian or spouse who's at least 18. Only you and the examiner ride during the test.

The car needs current registration on the rear plate, working turn signals, brake lights, horn, brakes, parking brake and seat belts, tires without bald spots, a driver's window that rolls down, a clear windshield, two mirrors (one outside on the left), front doors that open from inside and out, and a fixed passenger seat. Tests aren't given in bad weather or in an unsafe car.

If you fail

Practice first, then book a driving retest. You can take one road test a day, and the handbook says you may wait days or weeks for the next slot. Three fails means a new fee, and all your tests must be done within six months of paying.