How it starts
Before driving, the examiner checks whether you know the car at all: you are asked to show or explain one thing — tyres, air pressure, fluid levels, changing a wheel, or one of the car's systems.
Driving in traffic
The main part lasts about 40 minutes. They assess how you fit into traffic, whether you follow the rules and whether you create dangerous situations. Those same three points are the main reasons an exam is failed.
Two manoeuvres out of five
During the exam you perform two special manoeuvres. The computer picks which, so you have to be ready for all five:
- parallel parking
- perpendicular parking
- distance control at an obstacle
- three-point turn
- emergency braking
Independent driving
For at least five minutes you drive independently: the examiner names the destination, you choose the route. This tests not knowledge of the rules but the ability to navigate.
Source: csdd.lv, checked 01.11.2026.
How training prepares you
The driving training programme has six stages — from the first lesson on the closed area to driving in the dark. The last lessons work directly towards the shape of the exam. The stages, and what happens in each, are described in «What a lesson looks like».