How to plan your stage four drives

Practise driving in all types of conditions as you rehearse what it’s like to be a solo driver.

In this topic

Building on your stage three skills

Stage four goals

How to practise in stage four

How to achieve your stage four goals

Your legal requirements when you drive

Video: rehearsing for solo driving

Review these road rules for stage four

Building on your stage three skills

In stage three, you started to develop your skills on multi-lane roads and in busier environments.

As you progress through this stage, you’ll start to practise as if most of the responsibility and decision making is up to you. But your supervising driver will still be at your side in case you need them for advice, suggestions and help looking for potential hazards.

During stage four, you’ll need to take full responsibility for driving decisions when you feel ready.

By the end of this stage, you should be able to drive comfortably in all situations without help from your supervisor.

When you and your supervising driver agree, you can think about going for your Ps if you meet all the legal requirements.

The longer you spend in stage four, the better prepared you’ll be for solo driving.

Stage four goals

By the end of this stage, you and your supervising driver should agree you're able to do these tasks safely:

Drive in all traffic conditions.
See, think about and respond to hazards.
Leave safe gaps and keep safe following distances in traffic.
Choose safe and legal speeds.
Choose a safe gap when turning across traffic.
Choose a safe gap when changing lanes, merging and overtaking.
Drive on a wide range of road types and in many conditions.
Make safe driving decisions, such as when to drive and when not to.
Handle unexpected situations.
Manage distractions inside the vehicle.
Do complex driving tasks.
Drive to a destination without the help of your supervising driver.
Be able to use navigation and music on your phone without being distracted and still driving safely.

How to practise in stage four

Practise in all types of conditions and traffic to prepare you for solo driving.

How to achieve your stage four goals

Here's what you can do:

Practise as if most of the responsibility and decision making is up to you.
Plan drives and navigate on your own by setting up a securely mounted GPS device before driving and using in a variety of conditions and situations.
Drive doing everyday things such as going to the shops, giving lifts to people, going to appointments, school and so on.
Check you’re driving at safe speeds, obeying road rules and practising safe driving behaviours.
Talk with your supervising driver about any hazards you think you could have responded to better.
Talk with your supervising driver about how you’re going at the end of each drive to check on your progress.
Review your logged hours to make sure you’re getting a broad range of driving experience.