Driver Aids on the DGT Practical Test (2026)

Updated: September 2026. Driving-school cars now carry assistance systems that the DGT criteria address by name, and the rules are counterintuitive. Parking sensors and the reversing camera are not graded at all, so you can use them freely. Automatic emergency braking is the opposite: if it intervenes, it is an eliminatory fault, graded exactly like your instructor grabbing the controls. This page sets out how each system is treated.

Every driver aid and how it is graded

Source: DGT, Criterios de Calificación, March 2026. Full list at the end.

Key takeaways

01. Sensors and cameras are free. Using them during the parking manoeuvre costs nothing. The criteria say so in as many words.

02. Automatic braking is a fail. Not a deficient fault, not a warning. It sits under section 15.1.6 alongside the instructor taking over.

03. Warnings are never the fault. Beeps, dashboard lights and steering-wheel vibration are not graded. Only actual intervention is.

04. None of this is new for 2026. Every rule here was already in the September 2019 criteria, word for word, despite being widely reported as a 2026 change.

Automatic emergency braking: the one that ends the test

Section 15.1.6 is headed "intervention of the instructor or, where applicable, the emergency braking system (AEB)". The fault is defined as helping the candidate during the test by giving instructions with signs, words or in any other way, or by acting directly on the vehicle controls, altering the conduct of the test.

Putting the car's automatic braking under that heading follows a consistent logic: the examiner is assessing whether you can avoid the situation, and in both cases something other than your driving prevented the outcome. It does not matter that you did nothing wrong with your hands and feet at that instant. What matters is that the system had to act.

There is one release valve written into the criteria. The fault is not graded if the intervention by the instructor or the system was incorrect. A false positive, in other words, is not held against you, though in practice you would need the examiner to accept that reading at the time.

The practical lesson is about following distance and approach speed. AEB triggers on closing speed to the vehicle in front, so the way to keep it dormant is the same thing the criteria grade separately under section 4.2: never let the gap fall below half the safe distance, which is itself a deficient fault. See safe following distance in Spain.

Rear cross traffic alert: three different grades

RCTA is the system that watches for vehicles crossing behind you as you reverse out of a space. It is the only aid the criteria grade on a sliding scale, and the distinctions are precise.

• The alert sounds or flashes. Not graded. The criteria state plainly that the audible or visual warning of the system is not assessed.
• The system brakes, and you obstructed someone, and there was visibility. Deficient fault. The reasoning is that you could have seen the hazard yourself and did not.
• The system brakes and an evasive manoeuvre or action occurred. Eliminatory, under section 15.1.2.

Notice that the middle grade hinges on the words "having visibility". If the hazard was genuinely not visible from the driving position, the reasoning behind the deficient grade falls away. This is one of the few places in the criteria where the examiner is explicitly directed to consider what you could have seen.

Parking sensors and cameras: use them

Section 9.4 is unusually generous. Where the vehicle has a reversing camera and/or parking sensors, neither the display view nor the proximity warnings are graded. There is no hidden penalty for glancing at the screen, and no expectation that you park "the old way" for the examiner's benefit.

The criteria then draw a hard line. Full parking assistance, described as the system where the vehicle takes control by itself and no driver intervention at the controls is required, is not permitted. The distinction is whether you remain the one operating the car. Sensors informing you are fine; the car parking itself is not.

Everything else about the parking manoeuvre still applies regardless of what technology helps you: the two-minute limit, the movement counts, and the finishing position. Those are covered in manoeuvres and parking on the DGT practical test.

Automatic headlights: the escalation trap

Cars with automatic light sensors create a specific trap, and the criteria spell out the sequence. If conditions make lights essential and the automatic system has not activated, you are expected to switch them on manually. Failing to do so is a minor fault. The examiner then tells you to activate them. If you still do not, it becomes an eliminatory fault under section 12.1.

The underlying principle appears throughout the lights section: the responsibility to have the correct lighting is yours, and the presence of an automatic system does not transfer it. The same escalation applies to any light you are told to switch on and do not. More on when each light is required: headlight rules in Spain.

The myth that these are 2026 rules

These provisions are frequently described as new in the March 2026 criteria. They are not. We compared the March 2026 edition line by line against the September 2019 edition, and every ADAS rule on this page appears in the 2019 document in identical wording: the AEB heading at 15.1.6, the RCTA grading, the camera and sensor exemption, the full-parking-assist prohibition, and the automatic headlight escalation.

What did change in March 2026 was unrelated to technology. The eliminatory list was extended to cover ways reserved for cycles and personal mobility vehicles, coexistence and play zones, and luminous beacons and road studs. The full picture is in every eliminatory fault on the DGT practical test, and the broader 2026 exam changes in DGT 2026 exam changes explained.

This matters practically. If you were told that AEB became a fail in 2026, you might assume older advice from your instructor is out of date. It is not. This has been the rule for years.

What to ask your driving school before test day

• Which systems are active in the exam car, and can any be switched off? Configuration is the school's decision, and knowing what is live tells you what could intervene.
• Does the car have AEB, and how sensitive is it? Worth knowing which following distances have triggered it in practice lessons.
• Is the parking brake electric or mechanical? Either is graded the same, but forgetting to release an electric one is a fault you can avoid by rehearsing it.
• Do the headlights switch on automatically, and in what conditions do they not? Tunnels, underpasses and heavy rain are where automatic systems most often lag.
• Does the car have automatic parking, and is it disabled? You must not use full automatic parking, so make sure you cannot trigger it by accident.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use the reversing camera during the parking manoeuvre?

Yes. The criteria state that where the vehicle has a reversing camera and/or parking sensors, neither the display nor the proximity warnings are graded.

Do I fail if the car beeps at me?

No. Audible and visual warnings are not graded. Only an actual intervention by a system, such as the brakes being applied, carries a penalty.

What happens if automatic emergency braking activates?

It is graded as an eliminatory fault under section 15.1.6, the same heading as an instructor intervening. The criteria add that it is not graded if the intervention by the instructor or system was incorrect.

Can I use automatic parking assist?

No. Full parking assistance, where the vehicle takes control and no driver intervention at the controls is required, is not permitted. Sensors and cameras that inform you are fine.

My car has automatic headlights. Do I still need to think about lights?

Yes. If visibility makes lights essential and the automatic system has not activated, you must switch them on manually. Not doing so is a minor fault, and not doing so after being told becomes eliminatory.

Are these rules new for 2026?

No. All of them already appear in the September 2019 edition of the criteria in the same wording, despite being widely reported as a 2026 change.

Sources

• DGT, Subdirección Adjunta de Formación Vial, Criterios de Calificación, March 2026. Sections 3.3 (RCTA), 9.4 (cameras, sensors and parking assist), 12.1 and 12.3 (automatic lights), 13.1.6 (electric parking brake), 15.1.2 and 15.1.6 (evasive manoeuvre and AEB).
• DGT, Criterios de Calificación, vías abiertas, September 2019, via the Internet Archive. Used to establish that the ADAS provisions predate the 2026 edition.
• DGT, Examen práctico, official process page.

Last updated: September 2026. Criteria checked against the March 2026 edition: September 2026.

This guide summarises the DGT's published grading criteria and does not replace them. Vehicle configuration is your driving school's decision; confirm what is active in your exam car with them.