How to Choose a Driving School in Melbourne
Local Driving Schools How to Choose a Driving School in MelbourneA guide from an Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer Chamitha Lokuwithana Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer · Founder, Lessons2Drive June 2026 · 8 min read After conducting over 1,800 official VicRoads drive tests, being involved in the drive test route design and assessment process at Werribee, and […]
Top 12 Mistakes Learners Make During the VicRoads Driving Test
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive I conducted over 1,800 official VicRoads drive tests as a Licence Testing Officer. Most people who failed could drive. They failed because of 12 specific, documented mistakes — every one of them defined in the official VicRoads Drive […]
Converting Your Overseas Licence to a Victorian Licence
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Converting your overseas licence to a Victorian licence is not complicated — but the drive test at the end of the process is exactly the same test every learner driver sits. The same criteria. The same assessment items. […]
How to Get Your Victorian Learner Permit – Step by Step
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Whether you’re a teenager counting down to your 16th birthday or a parent trying to figure out what happens next — this guide covers every step of the Victorian learner permit process clearly and completely. And because the […]
Your First Step on the Road: How to Ace the Driver Knowledge Test (DKT)
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Most people treat the DKT as a hurdle to clear and forget. That’s the wrong approach — and I say that as someone who sat in the examiner’s seat for over 1,800 official VicRoads drive tests. Every road […]
The 120-Hour Rule: Driving Quality Over Just Clocking Time
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Most learner drivers think 120 hours means 120 hours of driving. It doesn’t. I sat in the passenger seat for over 1,800 official VicRoads drive tests. The students who failed were not the ones with the fewest hours. […]
Master the Hazard Perception Test: Your Key to Safer Driving
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive The Hazard Perception Test sits between your learner permit and your drive test — and most students treat it as a box to tick. That’s a mistake. After conducting over 1,800 official VicRoads drive tests, I can tell […]
The Tester’s Mindset: 5 Things an Examiner Knows About You in 5 Minutes
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive The VicRoads drive test does not begin when you leave the kerb. It begins the moment you sit in the driver’s seat. After conducting over 1,800 official drive tests as a VicRoads Licence Testing Officer, I can tell […]
The Importance of Proper Training for Overseas License Holders Before Hitting the Australian Roads
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive You’ve been driving for years. Possibly decades. Your licence is valid in Victoria for the first six months. So what’s the problem? The problem — and I saw it repeatedly across 1,800+ official drive tests — is that […]
Is Your Learner Driver Covered? Don’t Let a Simple Mistake Cost You!
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive If you’re supervising a learner driver in Victoria, there are two types of protection you need to think about. The first — car insurance coverage — is the one most parents think of. The second — knowing what […]
They Were Sons, Daughters, Friends, Family… And They Never Made It Home.
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive “They were sons, daughters, friends, family. And they never made it home.” This is not a marketing article. It’s a genuine reflection on why road safety training exists, why it matters beyond a licence, and what the VicRoads […]
Top Winter Driving Safety Tips
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Melbourne’s west gets real winter. Cold mornings, heavy rain on the Western Ring Road, wet intersections on Ballarat Road, foggy conditions through Melton. For learner drivers accumulating their 120 hours, winter is not an obstacle — it’s some […]
Navigating Through the Fog: Essential Tips for Safe Driving
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Fog is one of the most genuinely dangerous driving conditions — not because it creates new hazards, but because it removes your ability to see the ones that are already there. For learner drivers in Melbourne’s west, fog […]
Are You Sitting Right While Driving? Safety, Comfort, and Posture
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Most drivers sit in whatever position feels comfortable and never think about it again. But your seating position directly affects your ability to perform the specific movements the VicRoads drive test assesses — head checks, mirror […]
Keep Left for Life: Understanding the “Unless Overtaking” Rule
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive “Keep left unless overtaking” is one of the most widely misunderstood road rules in Victoria — not because it’s complicated, but because most drivers apply a simplified version of it and don’t know where that version breaks down. […]
Using Devices While Driving – Know the Rules!
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Mobile phone distraction is now one of the leading contributing factors in Victorian road crashes. The rules around device use while driving are more specific — and more strictly enforced — than most drivers realise. New detection cameras, […]
Seatbelts: The 3-Second Action That Protects Your Life
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive A seatbelt takes about three seconds to fasten. In a collision at 60 km/h, the time between impact and the car stopping is approximately 0.15 seconds. That gap — between the three seconds it took to protect yourself […]
Giving Way Saves Lives: Your Role as a Responsible Driver
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Give way rules are the most heavily assessed category in the VicRoads drive test criteria — and the most dangerous to get wrong. Failing to give way when another road user takes evasive action is an Immediate Termination […]
Beeping Your Car Horn – A Friendly Wave or a Fine?
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Most Victorian drivers have used their horn in a way that is technically illegal without knowing it. A quick beep at a mate, a frustrated tap at slow traffic, a celebratory honk — all of these fall outside […]
Is It Illegal to Park Facing Oncoming Traffic in Victoria?
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Yes — parking facing oncoming traffic is illegal in Victoria, and it catches more drivers out than you would expect. But parking rules in Victoria go well beyond this one question. The direction you park, how far from […]
Leaving Your Car Unlocked in Victoria – Is It Illegal?
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Yes — leaving your car unlocked and unattended in Victoria is a road rules offence under Regulation 213 of the Road Safety Road Rules 2017. Most drivers don’t know the specific requirements, and many don’t know that the […]
Flashing Your Lights – Helpful Signal or Hidden Fine?
Written by Chamitha Lokuwithana — Ex-VicRoads Licence Testing Officer 1,800+ official drive tests conducted · Founder, Lessons2Drive Flashing your headlights feels like a natural part of road communication — warning someone about a hazard, signalling a thank you, or letting a driver merge ahead of you. In Victoria, some of these uses are legal and […]