Arizona Road Test Scoring Sheet: Point Deductions and Auto-Fails

The Arizona road test scoring sheet (MVD form 99-0138) grades your drive on a point system: errors are worth 1, 2, 4, or 10 points, and reaching 21 points fails the test. Certain actions fail you immediately no matter how few points you have accumulated.¹ Knowing which mistakes carry the heaviest weight is the fastest way to prepare.

The 10-Point Errors

These are the deductions that can end your test in a hurry. One 10-point mistake leaves you almost no cushion, and two put you over the 21-point failure line by themselves. The scoring sheet assigns 10 points to each of the following:

Failing to make a full stop at a sign or light. Rolling through a stop sign is the most common high-point deduction. The examiner watches your wheels, not just your brake lights.
Crowding the center line. Drifting toward oncoming traffic, even briefly, signals a serious lane-control problem.
Failing to yield when another vehicle or pedestrian has the right-of-way.
Speeding 5 to 9 mph over the limit. Going more than 5 over can also trigger an automatic failure under separate criteria.
Following too closely.
Impeding traffic flow, including hesitating at green lights for no reason.

Every 10-point item involves another vehicle, a pedestrian, or a traffic control device. Errors that create real collision risk are punished far more heavily than errors that only look awkward.¹

The 4-Point Errors

These are the middle tier. You can absorb a few, but five of them alone would fail you. The sheet lists these at 4 points each:

Improper lane change, whether from failure to check or from cutting off traffic.
Signaling errors. Arizona law requires continuous signaling for at least the last 100 feet before a turn or lane change. Forgetting to signal, signaling late, or leaving a signal on afterward all count.
Jumping or hitting a curb during parking or turning.
Improper use of brakes, meaning abrupt or jerky stops that suggest poor control.
Parking too far from the curb.
Wrong lane choice, such as sitting in a turn-only lane when you need to go straight.
Ending a parking maneuver with the vehicle outside the marked space.
Not wearing a seat belt. Easy to avoid, but it appears on the sheet because people occasionally unbuckle during parking maneuvers.

Signaling and lane-change errors are the most frequent 4-point deductions. A useful habit is to signal before checking your mirror, so there is never a gap between deciding to move and communicating it.¹

The 2-Point Errors

Two-point items reflect execution problems more than safety issues. They will not fail you individually, but sloppy technique adds up:

Rough starts, stalling, or grinding gears.
Steering problems, such as over-correcting, weaving slightly, or hand-over-hand errors.
Stopping past the limit line or too far back from an intersection.
Turning too wide or cutting a corner too tight.
Waiting too long when you have a clear opportunity to proceed.
Finishing a perpendicular parking maneuver at an angle to the curb.
Driving noticeably below the speed limit without a safety reason.

“Waits too long” and “too slow” catch cautious test-takers by surprise. Examiners expect confident driving, not just safe driving. Sitting at a four-way stop when it’s clearly your turn costs the same 2 points as sloppy steering.¹

The 1-Point Vehicle Controls Check

Before you leave the parking lot, the examiner runs a quick check of whether you know your way around the car’s controls. Each item is worth 1 point, but missing several adds up. You may be asked to:

Locate the speedometer.
Engage and disengage the emergency brake.
Turn on the hazard lights.
Demonstrate the hand signals for left turn (arm straight out), right turn (arm bent upward), and stop (arm bent downward).
Explain which side of the road you pull to for an approaching emergency vehicle.
Activate the high beams.
Turn on the windshield wipers.
Locate the defroster control.

The hand-signal question trips people up more than you would expect. A couple of minutes reviewing it before your appointment is time well spent.²

What Fails You Automatically

Some errors end the test immediately, regardless of your point total. The scoring sheet groups automatic failures into three categories: dangerous actions, major violations, and repeated weighted offenses.¹

A dangerous action includes anything that forces another driver or pedestrian to take evasive action, any situation where the examiner has to grab the wheel or tell you to stop to prevent a collision, or running a wheel over a curb. Loss of vehicle control serious enough to create collision risk also falls here.

Major violations are the traffic-law equivalents: running a red light or stop sign, driving left of center into oncoming traffic, or speeding more than 5 mph over the posted limit under certain conditions. Not wearing your seat belt before entering a public road, or failing to wear corrective lenses when your permit requires them, also qualifies.

There is also a weighted-offense rule. Four or more instances of any combination of these specific errors will fail you automatically: forgetting to signal, coasting downhill in neutral, entering an intersection on a yellow light when you could have safely stopped, or consistently exceeding the speed limit. Individually these might cost only 4 or 10 points, but repeating them shows a pattern the examiner treats as disqualifying.

If You Fail

The examiner reviews the scoring sheet with you so you know exactly which deductions and automatic-failure entries caused the result. Arizona requires a minimum seven-day waiting period before you can retake the road test. Use that week to target the specific errors marked on your sheet rather than practicing generically.

1
Arizona Department of Transportation. Arizona Department of Transportation – 99-0138 Road Test Scoring
2
Arizona Department of Transportation. Road Tests