It's official, Butler Driver Vehicle Services (DVS) is open!
Manual driving instructor in Butler, Peter Andrews, was the first driving instructor at Indi Drive to have a driving test pass at Butler DVS. Huge congratulations to Calvin on passing the manual driving assessment this week!
In the previous blog post, we speculated possible test routes the Butler driving assessors and now after a successful 1st week, we have some valuable test route information to share.
On test day please arrive at Butler DVS 15 minutes prior to your scheduled assessment booking. There are multiple “driver test parking” bays allocated on the East side of the DVS building (off Benenden Avenue). You do not need to inform any staff at Butler DVS that you have arrived but stand in the designated PDA waiting area for your assessor to call your name. The C class driving assessment takes approximately 40 minutes to complete. Most of the driving assessment time is spent demonstrating “general driving” where you will be taken through speed changes, traffic lights, round abouts, left and right turns etc. so the assessor can see your capabilities in a range of general driving situations. The assessment also consists of two set exercises: "I've left something behind" and "Stop for Shopping". When assessments were conducted in Joondalup, these exercises also often included a reverse parallel park and Butler assessments are set to have the same.
Places to practice "I've left something behind" on driving lessons in Butler:
Oakbank Crescent Butler 6036 (Off Hollington Boulevard)
If you travel West from Butler DVS down Butler Boulevard towards Marmion Avenue, you will encounter a set of traffic lights, multiple roundabouts as well as a school zone. On Oakbank Crescent Butler, the most readily available turn around option is a house driveway. You can use a house driveway to turn the car around by going in forward and reversing back onto the road or reversing into the driveway and driving out forward. Practice both techniques with your driving instructor prior to test day. Depending on where the assessor instructs you to pull over and when the assessor say's the magic words "I've left something behind", there are a couple of "Hook Turn" options (Newmarket Parade Butler and Wetherby Link Butler). If you are asking yourself "what is a hook turn" check out this video and practice with your driving instructor.
Missingham Ave, Alkimos WA 6038
Further north of Butler DVS you head into Alkimos. The most common route to get to Missingham Ave, Alkimos is out of Butler DVS, turning left and heading North on Benenden Avenue. There are several round abouts along this route as well as a school zone. Missingham Avenue, Alkimos is a large loop road. Options for turning around on Missingham are hook turns, driveway turns and laneways. Laneway turn around’s should be executed in a similar fashion to a driveway turn around. However, ensure you stay on your side of the road in the laneway throughout the manoeuvre as this is designed for two way traffic.
Places to practice "Stop for Shopping" on driving lessons in Butler:
If you are not familiar with the "Stop for Shopping" exercise, check out this video and ask your driving instructor to take you through on your next driving lesson:
Butler Primary School
There are two Butler Primary schools. So far we have only noted Butler driving assessors using "Butler Primary School" off of Camborne Parkway not "East Butler Primary School" off of Landbeach Boulevard.
There are two routes the Buter assessor could use travelling to this carpark:
a) If you turn onto Camborne Parkway from Kingsbridge Boulevard Your assessor will likely take you past the carpark, turn right at the roundabout onto Tollesbury Avenue and ask you to find a safe place to pull over. There are multiple parallel park spots to choose from. (Remember that parallel can be forward or reverse, pick the easiest option). Your assessor will then ask you to find a safe place to turn around heading back to the primary school carpark that was "missed". Your turn around option is predominantly hook turns as the 1st 18 houses on Tollesbury Avenue do not have driveways.
b) If you are approaching the carpark already travelling along Camborne Parkway Your assessor will likely take you past the carpark, turn right at Brampton Avenue and find a safe place to pull over. There are multiple parallel park spots to choose from. (Remember that parallel can be forward or reverse, pick the easiest option). Your assessor will then ask you to find a safe place to turn around heading back to the primary school carpark that was "missed". Your turn around option is hook turns and driveways.
IGA Butler
On the corner of Kingsbridge Boulevard and Connolly Drive in Butler there is an IGA. If you are doing the traditional "Stop for Shopping" exercise the assessor will likely take you on a route that turns onto Kingsbridge Boulevard heading West. They may then ask you to turn left at the 1st street after the IGA, Worcester Loop, Butler and ask you to find a safe place to pull over. Your assessor will then ask you to find a safe place to turn around heading back to the IGA carpark that was "missed". Your turn around option is hook turns and driveways.
There are of course many other locations driving assessors in Butler could take their PDA candidates on test day. This information is purely what we know so far. if you have a driving assessment scheduled in Butler, we highly recommend driving around the area in the weeks leading up to your assessment day so you feel familiar with Butler and more confident going for your driving assessment.
Best of luck to all those attempting the driving assessment in Butler and across all Perth centres.