By the end of this stage, you and your learner should agree they’re able to do these tasks safely without support:

• 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 your help.
• Set up navigation and music on a phone before driving, and drive safely without being distracted. Make simple adjustments (e.g. volume), only using an inbuilt device when driving.

Even though you’re becoming more like a passenger in this stage, you still need to give your learner support as they rehearse solo driving.

To help your learner rehearse for solo driving, you should:

• Practise as if most of the responsibility and decision making is up to them.
• Encourage your learner to plan drives and navigate on their own in all conditions and situations.
• Let your learner drive doing everyday things such as going to the shops, giving lifts to people, going to appointments, school and so on.
• Check they’re driving at safe speeds, obeying road rules and practising safe driving behaviours.
• Talk with them about any hazards you think they could have responded to better.
• Talk with them about how they’re going at the end of each drive to check on their progress.
• Review their logged hours to make sure they’re getting a broad range of driving experience.