Which is More Difficult: Subject Two or Subject Three?
4 Answers
Overall, Subject Two is more challenging. Here is some additional information: 1. Subject Three: Officially known as the Road Driving Skills and Safe & Civilized Driving Knowledge Test in the motor vehicle driver examination. The road driving skills test varies depending on the type of vehicle license being pursued, generally including: preparation before starting, starting off, driving straight, shifting gears, changing lanes, pulling over, going straight through intersections, turning left at intersections, turning right at intersections, crossing pedestrian crosswalks, passing school zones, passing bus stops, meeting other vehicles, overtaking, making U-turns, and driving at night. The safe and civilized driving knowledge test covers: requirements for safe and civilized driving operations, safe driving knowledge under adverse weather and complex road conditions, emergency handling methods for situations like tire blowouts, and post-accident handling knowledge. 2. Exam precautions: If during the exam, a candidate answers phone calls, checks pagers; disrupts the order of the examination site; makes loud noises, or disobeys the staff's instructions, the current subject test will be terminated, the score for that subject will be invalidated, and the candidate will need to reschedule the exam.
I just passed my driving test. The second subject was really torturing. Practicing reverse parking and hill starts in the training ground every day, where even a tiny mistake with the steering wheel would mean failure, and improper rearview mirror adjustment would require starting over. Although the third subject involved actual road driving, as long as you remembered the routine of turn signals and observation movements, it was actually less stressful. Especially since the examiner would remind you in advance to change lanes, real road conditions were easier to handle rhythmically than the closed test site. However, several friends around me said the third subject had more unexpected situations, like suddenly appearing electric scooters that could easily make you panic. Personally, I think the second subject had more concentrated technical difficulties, where every maneuver had to be flawless, creating greater psychological pressure. If you weren't proficient with clutch control, just the hill start alone could make you question your life choices.
From a teaching perspective, Subject Two (Parking Skills) has a lower tolerance for errors. The reverse parking test requires the distance between the car body and the boundary line to be precise to the centimeter, and touching the line during parallel parking results in immediate failure. Many students spend a long time practicing the S-curve before they get the hang of it. Subject Three (Road Driving) focuses more on safety awareness, such as slowing down and observing at intersections, and changing lanes appropriately, which are more important in actual driving. Although it involves dealing with real traffic, as long as the 16-step operation process is memorized, the difficulty of the test is actually manageable. I've found that students with good psychological resilience have a high chance of passing Subject Three on their first attempt, while those with poor hand-eye coordination struggle a lot with Subject Two. Some students fail Subject Two even after three retakes but pass Subject Three on their first try, which speaks volumes.
As a veteran driver with twenty years of experience, I've mentored many beginners. The general feedback is that Subject 2 is tougher to crack, as it's all about rote memorization in the driving school's confined space. Watching reference points and turning the steering wheel feels like reciting formulas, and standards like keeping the wheels 30cm from the curb are hard for novices to grasp. The road test, however, tends to be more relaxed. Despite distractions from other vehicles, the test route is fixed, and with enough practice, shifting gears and pulling over become muscle memory. I've seen many people give up in frustration at the reverse parking segment, but complaints about failing the straight-line driving test are far fewer.
