“If you know the area of Santa Ana, stay in Santa Ana, why are going to go to an area that you’re not familiar with?” Correa said. The problem, says Correa, is that young drivers unfamiliar with an area outside their own neighborhood are more likely to make mistakes. Although, Fullerton’s failure rate is only slightly lower than Santa Ana’s. Instead, many young drivers in the northern part of the county opt for Fullerton, mistakenly thinking it will be easier. “This is what I hear – ‘I don’t want to go to Santa Ana because people don’t pass there,'” Correa said. Rick Correa, a driving instructor and operator of GNG Driving School in Santa Ana, says many of his students have heard about the high failure rate at the Santa Ana office. “Every single drive test is so unique it’s really hard to pinpoint what’s leading to fails.”

“No two drive tests are alike,” she said. If someone’s prepared, they’re going to pass the test.”įactors such as road conditions, traffic patterns and weather can all contribute to failure rates, Mendoza said. The DMV has not done an in-depth analysis of its pass-fail rates since 1995, spokeswoman Jan Mendoza said, but added that the test is meant to weed out those who are not prepared: “If a person taking the test is not prepared, it’s going to be more of a challenge to get through the test.