About Washington State Driving Test

I made this website and online course to help people pass the Washington driving test.

In 2011 the state legislature passed, and then-Governor Gregoire signed, ESHB 1635. This bill allowed the Department of Licensing (DOL) to outsource the administration of driving tests to licensed driver training schools. It was intended to reduce the long lines at the licensing offices. As a result, you can now take your driving test at a licensed driving school instead of waiting in line at the DOL.

Certified Master Examiner

After DOL rolled out the change, several of us were trained and certified as Master Examiners. A Master Examiner is someone who has been trained by DOL to teach other driving examiners how to give the test. Some Master Examiners are DOL employees like I was, but a lot of licensed driving instructors were also certified as Master Examiners. I was trained and certified as a Master Examiner in early 2014.

In addition to training new examiners, a Master Examiner also performs “check rides”. These are a lot of fun! In a check-ride, the Master Examiner (that was me) poses as an applicant who is taking the driving test. I would drive the car and the driving examiner would give the instructions and grade my performance as if I were someone taking the driving test. I would make deliberate mistakes to see if the examiner noticed them and scored them correctly. I would commit errors like driving over a line, or cutting a corner, or failing to look over my shoulder when I change lanes.

Because I was the driver, I couldn’t write down what I had done. I had to remember everything that happened during the check ride until the end, which required a lot of focus. At the end of the check-ride, the examiner and I would go over their score sheet. I would fill out an evaluation form that graded them on how well they gave instructions, noticed the errors, scored things correctly, etc.

It was through this training and certification process, and then “testing” driving examiners during check rides as a Master Examiner, that I learned the in’s and out’s of the driving test.

Creating this website and online test prep courses

In 2015, I left DOL for another state agency. A couple of years later I became interested in online business. I grew up working in my dad’s construction business, and have always valued entrepreneurship. My wife Rebecca and I own Sound Real Estate Brokers, a real estate brokerage in Olympia. I brainstormed several new business ideas, and one of them was “create an online course that teaches people how to pass the driving test.” Since I knew the material so well, this is the topic that I selected.

I took the skills and knowledge I earned at DOL and used them to create something entirely new: My own take on how to pass the Washington driving test. If you follow a handful of simple rules and procedures, and get lots of driving practice, then passing the test is easy. But you have to know what to do, and when, and how to do it right.

One thing I want to make clear, is that this website and course are my own interpretations of the material I learned as a Master Examiner. That material, including the DOL Examiner Manual for conducting driving tests, is in the public domain and was posted publicly on the DOL website for years. My material is not a copy or a duplicate. It is my own derivative work, my way of presenting the information in a way that is easy for anyone to understand.

Resources to help you pass your test

I worked on this website and online course, bit by bit, in my spare time. Now I am ready to share it with you. You can start by checking out the driving test tips in the blog, or liking our Facebook page.

If you find those resources helpful, consider signing up for the free course, which gives you five free lessons to your email inbox that give you a broad introductory overview of the course.

The flagship product we offer is the premium course, which has nine video lessons where I take you through each part of the driving test step by step. You’ll see multiple camera angles as I perform maneuvers like parallel parking and backing around a corner, as I talk you through each maneuver.

If you have any questions about this website, the courses, or any of the material presented, please feel free to contact me.

Thank you for visiting Washington State Driving Test!