For a lot of us, our driver’s test may be but a vague memory. That right of passage, the first step on the road to adulthood, can be a freeing experience. It can also be an embarrassing nightmare.
Sometimes it’s a simple miscalculation of which shoulder to look over when changing lanes, and when they build up, you’re suddenly below the passing score and are forced to head home with your parent behind the wheel, and you staring despondently at your shoes.
Fortunately, unlike job interviews and pissing off Sean Penn, you get a second chance at the DMV test. In fact you can go back as many times as you’d like, until you finally pass, or are given a lifetime bus pass by the terrified behind-the-wheel staff.
So, any horror stories of driver’s license testing to share? Did you make it on the first pass, ending up with a self-satisfied smirk on your license picture? Or, did you flunk the written seven times? Don’t be shy, we’re all friends here.
Image sources: [Doctor Fun,whynotando.com]
Seeings how I am almost 17, I can vividly remember taking the test. I was nervous as hell, but I passed on the first try. The instructor even said that I "drove as if I've been driving for 20 years!" He was being nice, but I still consider myself a good driver.
Oh man. Here we go…
Attempt #1: showed up on time, but didn't have my birth certificate with me. "Nope, gotta re-schedule".
Next available at my "home" office was like months away, so I rescheduled in a nearby town.
Attempt #2 starts well enough, as I've got all of my paperwork this time. This DMV office was set up like a bank drive-through lane, where you line up under a cover thing and then they come out to your car. There was one car ahead of me in line when the tester came out to my (mom's) car. Lights, horn, signals, etc all go well, so it's time to get in the car.
While I was doing my intro stuff, the car in front of me had pulled away. When we got in the car and go going, I proceeded to just drive out of the little lane thing we were in, through the parking lot. "Ooooh…I'm gonna have to ask you to just pull into that spot right there."
WTF?
Turns out there was a stop sign at the end of the little lane, up high on one of the pillars that held up the roof. As I was 1 car back from the line, I'd technically run a stop sign. I'd like to think this little detail would be common knowledge if you were local to that DMV office.
So yeah, I may well have the shortest driving test on record: ~15 feet.
We had something similar to that "hidden stop sign" trick at our local DMV in PA…but as you said, it was already legend among the permit-holders.
My local RTA (the aussie equivalent to your DMV) also had a hidden stop sign like that, behind a tree as you pulled out of the car park which caught many people out too.
I passed the first time, but didn't have to do a hill start (no hills near steep enough), or a proper reverse parallel park (street side parking was too empty to have anywhere to do one), so I just described to the instructor what I would do in those situations!
I passed on my first try, even scoring 100% on the written. My mom had to renew her license and took the written at the same time as me. She only got a 90%. Let's just say I am well-practiced at being smug should I ever (perish the thought) be forced to drive a Prius.
I can say I hope to never see you in a pious.
When I took the driver's exam (could have been for the permit), it was pre-PC, so there was this console/terminal where you stood to take the test. If you got one wrong, something would clunk within the machine and a red "WRONG" sign would appear in a window. Don't ask me how I know that….
Passed with flying colors.
Although, a trained monkey could have pass the test at this particular DMV. They had me drive down a single-lane road, do a three point turn in a parking lot, and parallel parked in a space that could fit a massive truck. Well…this was in Georgia, so I probably got points off for not driving a truck. You know, being unfair to the other applicants.
Ain't that the truth! When I moved to GA I didn't get my state license right away, so they made me take all the tests. Since I was almost the last person to drive, on a very hot day, the instructor asked me, "Have you taken a drivers test before?" Of course, I said. Several times in the US and Canada. "Good, drive to the end of the parking lot, do a 3 point turn, and come right back to this spot". Took all of 2 minutes and I was a licensed driver in Georgia.
I think it took me all of 5min. Hilarious.
NOPE! Not the first, not the second. 3 tries…
First failure was because I didn't merge into the first (same) lane when turning onto a one-way street twice in a row (plus I almost hit a bicycle that came outta nowhere).
Second wasn't my fault (ha, I know right?). The tester failed me because I "failed to use both hands while turning". I was driving a freaking manual truck! How are you supposed to merge into traffic without shifting and turning at the same time? I asked her if she knew how to drive a stick, and when she said no, my 17 year old ass asked "The who the hell gave you this job? Learn to drive and come back to me." I was pissed.
Had no errors the last try. The instructor knew what a stick was.
I did not do so well on my driver's ed test – she took me through an unfamiliar part of town, complete with a one-way grid and multiple turning lanes. I'm from a small suburb, and had never had to deal with that kind of thing before. I passed, but barely. My dad took me out and made me practice parking on a hill, backing around a corner, parallel parking, the whole nine. Passed 100% first try at the DMV, in a Caravan, no less.
Passed the first time, but I had really been driving for five years or so, so it really wasn't a big deal to me.
Channeling my inner Samuel Jackson: "What do you think, motherf*cker?"
Does your license say "Bad Motherfucker"?
Hah, no, but it used to say "Mint 7"…the new/old one will be historic registered, so no vanity plates for me anymore….
I only went to one driver's ed. class. It was at my high school. I skipped the drug and alcohol class. Then I went to DMV and took the written test, passed, and went outside for my driving test. The instructor told me it was his last day and he wanted to go home. He told me to drive around the block. All right turns. He said congratulations- you passed. We pulled back into the parking lot- he got out and ran inside. I parked and went in to get my license.
I don't know why people complain about the process. It's easy like cake mix.
Given the simplicity of the test that was given at my local DMV back in those days, anyone who didn't pass the first time should have been banned from retaking it for at least 1 year. I think we drove about 2 miles total, made nothing but right turns and did absolutely no parallel parking. While my 16 year old self was happy for its brevity and simplicity, I now realize that it allowed on the road a great number of my peers who were in over their heads sitting in the passenger's seat, let alone driving.
/harumph
No shit! All I had to do was not crash, and drive about for a bit, and presto! You're passed. The MI (and US in general) driving tests have to be one of the easiest in the world. I have heard nothing but horror stories from some of my Brit friends.
Yep, first time. But considering Georgia's testing standards at the time that isn't saying much. I never left the parking lot of the state patrol office. To this day I remember the one question I missed on the written portion: The speed limit in a residential area without a posted speed limit sign is 35mph, not 25mph.
Hooray for low standards!
I would have replied to your post first but another fellow GA driver posted above. My experience was identical to yours. My CDL test was a bit different, which I will post separately.
I think knowing my state's default residential limit (25) got me out of a ticket. The main drag through my hometown was under construction so there was a side street detour, and a city cop in a Lumina was clocking traffic there. The town's side streets are actually 20 MPH, but unless you get on certain streets at their very end you'll never know that. I argued that my 28 MPH was actually 28 in a 25 since there were no signs on any of the streets used for the detour.
No. Took my third go around to get it.
First time, I was speeding. Yup, speeding. A 35mph went to 25mph and the sign was blocked slightly, never saw it since I never drove that much in the town.
Second time was double stopping. I stopped at the sign, then inched forward until I could see traffic coming, then stopped, then went when it was clear.
Third time I went to the car, got in, started it and the guy said I was good to go. I think he looked at my previous attempts and figured I knew what I was doing, I just didn't do it well.
I passed on my first try but they took off like 3 or 5 points. I was thrilled and my first license photo showed it, complete with reddish face.
It's funny because even though I failed parallel parking on my test, I'm a master at parallel parking nowadays.
Test? You mean the silly written thing? Yeah, first try. I went through the public school course and got yelled at after turning right out of the parking lot and managing to break the speed limit before we passed the edge of school property. I was pretty comfortable, mostly because my dad taught me to drive his Isuzu Trooper II with a stick when i was 13 so he wouldn't have to fulfill the promise to drive me around my paper route on Sundays. "Drive yourself…" Letting a 13 year-old drive did lead to him spider-webbing the windshield with his youngest brother's head in an early, and unsuccessful hooning adventure.
Actually, my driving instructor had me meet him early one day and took me on the highway alone (first highway drive). I couldn't believe it, but he said that he was afraid to take the other three kids in my group out. That gave me great confidence in my fellow, young drivers i tell ya.
Hells yeah, I passed it my first time. The cop that was assigned to me was too busy playing with a pen to notice the 100 feet I reversed from, and passed me rather nonchalantly. Easy peasy.
I still don't know how to parallel park, though.
1) Learners permit overseas in the form of scratch off lottery ticket thing = pass, same with oral part (learned to drive and shift on the wrong side)
Nice lady says "if it ain't broke don't fix it…" ignoring the 60 day if you move get a new license rule
2) ON G1 = multichoice pass (98%)
3) ON G2 (technically G1 exit test) = 1 stall in reverse while parallel parking, drove with aplomb in 5" of snow, dude didn't like my rev matching, pass
4) ON G (tech. G2 exit test) = gentleman didn't like my shifting (I was avoiding downshifting and rev matching this time) = fail = lay rubber outside drive test, fuckers.
5) NS G scam = walk into service Nova Scotia with an expiring ON G2, pay money, walk out with FULL Nova Scotia license, no drive test
6) In ON a couple years later, driving ON plated car on 401, plates had previously been associated with old ON license. OPP following me, mirroring my lane changes for 5 min, light me up. It would seem they were running plates and mine came back "expired license". Get a reminder to go get an ON license.
7) Go to get ON license – "You haven't held the Nova Scotia full license for the requisite period in order to exchange it for a full Ontario license"
9) Months later on NS license get pulled over again in a speed trap (45km over in a 50 zone) – nice Toronto cop doesn't say anything
10) Eventually get an ON license after trying 3 separate times over 3 days ("Our computers are down" "Our computers are down" "let's see if they work today")
Bah.
Wow! I don't even understand most of that stuff.
Ontario has a graduated licensing system that was, at the time:
G1 – do a written test: get a learner's permit (drive with fully licensed driver who has been driving for more than x years, or something, BAC, time, 400 series highway restrctions)
G2 – do a road test: can drive by yourself with restrictions re BAC, and other stuff)
G – do a longer road test with highway stuff, get a full license
(a G or General class of license)
There are/were certain prescribed waiting times between phases of licensing which could be shortened with driver's ed and restrictions on how long you can hold one with out trying to upgrade.
There is also a 60 day rule if you move to a new prov on getting an license in that province.
yes to road test.
written test:
in michigan, yes. transferring my license to california, no. all those damn questions about baby weight and car seats….
im not having any damn kids any time soon!
Dammit.
ha, good luck!
I passed it the first time in a tiny town in Southwest Missouri, famous for its license bureau. In 1975 in my older sister's bright yellow '74 VW Super Beetle and joyfully hooning ever since!!
Got my license still living in the Netherlands, first time failed because the instructor said I did not make one mistake, but in his view I was too carfully.
How can you be too carefully if there is snow and ice on the tarmac? Second time got the same intructor (they are randomly chosen) and drove all fine but for one mistake, I kept going 80 km/h in 50 zone. The instructor alerted me that the sign was changed 2 days before. Thought that would have failed again but this time he gave me the approval.
My motor cycle license test fell on a day it was like -15 degree Celsius ( 5 Farenheit), no ice on the road though. The instructor said me just to drive a few blocks down the road and stop at a coffeeshop. So I did and the guy said that it was too f*cking cold out there and had already seen that I was familiar with the bike, so he said let's have a coffee to pass the time and you are approved. (in the Netherlands you had to drive for one hour in a busy city)
There is a legend of a man at the Northeastern New Jersey DMV. Anyone who has gotten their license in the area knows of "Hitler". Now, I'm not a fan of mean nicknames, but the man is German, he has the mustache, and he is a fucking driving Nazi. He demands absolute precision from any prospective licensee. While in high school, all of my classmates dreaded the moment he would walk out the DMV and into their cars. I know not of a single person who got Hitler who passed on his or her first try. One of my male friends, whose parents
spoiled the living piss out of himwere well off, had a new E46 M3 waiting for him as soon as he got his license. Hitler failed him twice, forcing him to wait months.By luck of the draw, I got a different tester and passed the first time with flying colors.
I used to think this guy was just a vindictive prick, but I see now that he probably kept a lot of unfit teens off the roads, at least temporarily.
Have you ever been to Busan? I ask because of your nom de comment.
Pretty hard to be a Hoon in Seoul. I've been there, driven there, and the traffic is hell. Spend more time sitting around than driving. Nice town, however, if you're on foot. That soju and OB beer will fcuk you up. I've seen people there using parking meters as walking sticks.
I've seen myself using my arms as walking sticks after nights out in Seoul. Anyway, there' s a bar in Busan called SoulTrane.
Written 'exam' (multiple choice, with obvious questions and pictures of signs; I skimmed the handbook beforehand to make sure): 100%
Practical test: Three points off for 'uneven throttle' (because I hadn't turned up the idle at that point and had to give it a bit of extra gas before it warmed up so it wouldn't stall; I compensated by riding the brake slightly); three off for not signalling when pulling into the space in the nearly-empty parking lot at the end 'cos I was nervous as hell. 94%.
First try. I was pleased, but not terribly surprised. I was eighteen and three months ferChrissake; I'd been driving for a couple years…
Like many of us, I had been anticipating my 16th birthday for years, just waiting to get my license and that sweet taste of freedom (even if it's with an experienced driver – re. parent – in the passenger seat). And then a week before my birthday, the union handling licensing goes on strike. For almost two months. After that's done, it took them a week or two to get the computers back on line. Finally I get to go, semi-unprepared. Still, I just passed the written test (I think if I had gotten one more wrong, I would have failed). My two road tests went much smoother, although within a half hour of getting my G (my full license), I had put my car in the ditch, while doing a three-point turn.
It took me a couple tries to get my motorcycle license though. Both times, I had no problem with the written test. But the first road test is included in motorcycle training, if you choose to take it. Of course, this meant that the first time I took the test, was a day after I had ridden one for the first time. I couldn't control the clutch smoothly enough to do the slow speed stuff, and failed for putting my foot down, or going over a line, or something. I redid it all last spring and passed (barely), which has me set for up to 4 years (I still need to get my full M license).
Was this the most recent drivetest strike?
Well, back in '02 – it was OPSEU that went on strike (I think it was before Ontario switched over to using DriveTest for licensing).
In the middle of my three point turn, the (automatic equipped) car stalled… I calmly put it in neutral started it back up and finished… the cop praised me for doing it so quickly.
Dunno about other states, but the CA driving test was kind of a joke when it came to actual driving skill.
No freeway, no parallel parking. The two trickiest things were doing a 3-point turn and backing along a curve for an unreasonably long distance.
What people (myself included) usually got hung-up on was making it painfully obvious to the tester that you were looking wherever they wanted you to be looking. Like, if they thought you weren't checking your mirrors enough, or they didn't notice you looking up the road when you did the 30-point turn.
Another favorite insta-fail was the fact that legally, you're not supposed to enter an intersection and wait prior to making a left-hand turn. Apparently, it's an insta-fail.
The thing that sucks about all of this is that it lets some ridiculously bad/helpless drivers through, and penalizes you for silly things that have nothing to do with safety.
I passed my driver's test the first time back in the day. But I will admit I got a little lucky when it came time for the parallel parking bit. There were no other cars even on the block when he asked me to parallel park in front of the building. So I just had to pull up along the curb and not hit it.
Now, my motorcycle license was a different story. I failed it at least once. And when I did pass it, I think you were allowed to have '10 points' for your mistakes, but 11 points would result in a failing result. I believe I got 10 points exactly. Been a law-abiding motorcycle rider ever since.
Apparnetly not looking both ways while crossing railway tracks can have serious consequences…after arriving back at the DMV the instructor told me the only reason I passed is because I backed into the parking space flawlessly.
That was almost a year ago. Yes, I am Hoon-ager haha.
Passed by a hair on the first try, but only because I developed a great rapport with the tester right from the beginning by asking her to tell me horror stories about other testees. …
Oh yes, my driving test. The night before my dad was trying to get the e-brake in the sable to work properly. Even though the sable saw an automatic, you still had to use the e-brake whenever you parked. The e-brake would engage fine but would not release unless you messed around with the rear brakes. After he messed around with it for a few hours he gave up and just disconnected the whole thing and told me to pretend it still took some effort to engage it. Well, about that time he noticed the tags on the car expired the next day. So the car i had been practicing with the entire time, would not be legal for my first time taking the test. So I get to take our Ford Explorer for the test that I had next to no practice on.
The next day I'm waiting on the instructor to come out. I'd heard that the younger lady and the guy at the place were the only people that had passed my friends. Out of the building comes a gray haired lady – crud. As I'm driving out of the parking lot she scolds me for driving so slow because, "I KNOW you won't drive this slow when you get your license". Funny, this is how I normally drive. At another point she scold me for being towards the middle of a residential street. I was making a left hand turn and no other cars were around. She has me go back to the testing center and once there she starts going through a laundry list of things I need to work on. Somewhere in the middle she says "I am passing you…." and I quit listening because I was doing a celebration dance in my head.
After completing the high school drivers ed, I wasn't required to take the driving test to get my first license. I passed the written test on the first try. I did have to take a driving test four years later, when I'd moved to Washington and went in two days after my Idaho license expired. Since I was attempting to get a drivers license without having a valid license, I had to take the full driving and written test. I almost feel sorry looking back, at the poor driving test lady having to get into my beat up but running 80 RX-7. The only points she was able to take off my test was that I cut a left hand corner a little tighter than she preferred.
Dude, I got my Super License after a dozen trys on the Numbergring. I would overshoot my braking zone after the long straight, and would slam into the wall. I actually ended up getting Silver on it on try 12.
I was 19 when I got my license because here in Texas you either have to have a driver's ed course under your belt, or be 18 to get your license. I opted to not take a driving course and just drive sans license for a few years. I passed the test on my first attempt, although was docked a few points because I was a little further away from the curb that they wanted me to be on the parallel parking test. Since that day I can count on one hand the times I've actually had to parallel park, but no matter.
My test was such a joke that even today I laugh about it. My instructor, I think passed me for just showing up in a stick shift car. And after that, it was just a matter of not crashing into anyone. Yes, I did have to do a parallel parking. Sort of. Easy peasy.
I have driver license from three countries:
1) France: theory was easy (after many hours of mandatory classes). Practice: failed the first attempt for almost running down a pedestrian at an intersection. Got it no problem on the second try.
2) Switzerland: this was a military permit to drive APCs (Armored Personal Carriers, M113). Got ti the first time although I was allowed a second attempt after being a bit soft on the brake pedal during an emergency stopping test.
3) USA (California): took the theoretical test completely unprepared and failed (duh!). After, you know, reading the manual, I got it. The driving test was a piece of cake after having driven in Europe for six years…
Passed the written 100% and the on-the-rod driving 100%, but failed 'cause of the 5 cone parallel parking thing. I was driving Dad's '77 Cutlass – big car and you can see absolutely nothing of that sloping rear out the back. Hit a cone and it fell over. Touching a cone, not stopping in the right place, etc. all get you points. You can get up to 25 points and still pass. Knocking a cone over is 26 points.
Next time out I think I got 20 or 25 – I passed, but just barely.
Whenever I see some kid practicing with cones in a parking lot, I'm tempted see if I can give it a go now.
I passed it on the first time, without any marks against me.
I RULE driving.
I almost didn't pass the preliminary, written, exam. Instead of asking about the rules of driving a car, it was more concerned with the rules of driving drunk. Why were they asking a 15 year old that? (Don't answer that.) The driving driving test though? That went just fine.
I failed my first driving test (NSW, Australia) because I stopped alongside a driveway for my 3-point turn (which was exactly where the tester had asked me to pull over). The second time I only just passed because I drove tat the speed limit for the whole test, instead of about 5-10km/h under like everyone else does.
While I passed first time, my friend actually drove his dads second car (1970 Cutlass with350 Rocket fire) to the exam by himself on his 16th birthday. When he was told he failed for "not arm signaling when pulling out into traffic from a stop" he promptly drove himself home.
I failed.
It's summer in South Carolina, so it's blazing hot and thickly humid. I'm 15, and nervous as hell, just sitting there in the lot, waiting. Out of nowhere, a big DMV woman opens the passenger door and wedges herself into my red Toyota Tercel wagon, her entrance lubricated by her own sweat. First words out of her mouth: "This car got AC?" Uh, yeah [voice cracks]. "Well turn it on and turn it on high!"
That 2WD Tercel had so little power to begin with, and between the AC sucking away HP and the slippy clutch, the thing could barely get out of its own way. I knew it, and got even more nervous. So I'm doing my thing, looking over my shoulder. But along the way I stalled twice. Instant failure. And she let me know right away. I was so sullen after that, I completely lost concentration and blew through a red light turning left through a 4-way intersection of two one-way roads. Double fail.
When I re-took the test, I got the same worker, and she remembered me. I rocked it that time.
I passed my G1 no problem, and when I finally got an appointment for my G2 it was on a sunny Friday in summer at 3pm. My tester got in, put her sun visor down, started doing her makeup in the mirror and told me I was her last test of the day. I think I could have rolled the car and still passed. Once I had my G2 I forgot to book my G test. After a couple of years I got a letter stating that if I didn`t get my G in the next 3 months I would have to start all over again. By this time I was working for a racing school as a trackside manager /driving instructor. The thought of having to start over again scared the hell out of me. I booked the test, but the only car I had at the time was a stick. Sure that my usual heel and towing was not the approved method, I would coast up to the stoplights /stop signs in neutral. After the test the tester (a Scotsman in his 50s) told me I shouldn`t be in neutral so much, "Don`t you watch racing, they`re always in gear, ready to go." All I could do was bit my lip and say, "Oh, yeah… racing. I`ve seen it a couple of times."
Same thing happened to me on the G2 exit test – didn't want to h/t, rev match and seem like I was racing. Failed me for the neutralness. Jerks.
I got lucky, the guy passed me.
Written was 95% 1st time through.
Driving, however… 1st try was a fail because I tried to be courteous to a car behind me and used about 50 feet of a parallel parking lane as a right turn lane, in a zone where I'd never seen a car parked my whole life. 2nd try was a fail from stopping with my bumper a few feet past the stop sign like I'd seen everyone do for years. 3rd try was a pass. I was only 14 and a half though.
I got my license on my 16th birthday in California. Ace'd the written test and was aceing the driving test until I stalled my mom's Toyota during the 3 point turn. Still, I passed both the first time. Little did the DMV know I've been driving on the freeways since I was 14.
Later that same year our family moved to Nova Scotia. I don't even recall taking a test, maybe a written, but not much. They gave me a PAPER license, not laminated or anything. Hell, with today's printers I could create a forged NS license in 10 minutes. What a joke. Still, I received licenses in two different countries within a few months of turning 16. I was a drivers test taking stud.
After several more moves and licenses, I ended up in Georgia. Since my Illinois license had expired, I had to take all the tests over, just like I was 16. The written test was stupid easy, and the drivers test never left the parking lot.
The only time I've been challenged while taking a drivers test was last year when I went to get my CDL. I took the General test, Combination trailers, and Air Brakes. About 120 questions in total. I was not prepared for the Air Brake test, so I failed the whole thing. Went back the next day, studied while waiting, and passed with an 85. Not great, but good enough. The CDL drivers test was just as difficult. I was so worried about the driving portion that I completely glossed over the pre-trip inspection test. I failed before I even got behind the wheel, but the tester lady let me drive anyway. I ace'd the drivers portion but had to go back a week later to retake the inspection test. That F up cost me almost $100 more in fuel and other stuff. I passed the inspection test and got my CDL, which I have had no use for since.
No.
17, Learned to drive in my (and by my, I mean bought with my own funds) 1992 240sx SE 5spd, but didn't want to use a manual for the driving test so had to borrow my mothers Monte Carlo. Well test gets scheduled for rush hour, haven't driven this car more than twice, GM horrific gas pedal. Anyway, failed cause I went over speed limit twice, once up a hill, cause the hill was like a 50 deg slope and the damn thing wasn't really eager to go up it.
Anyway, came home, apologized to my 240sx for failing, didn't drive again for 4yrs.
2nd attempt, Drove the same car for a year (1992 Lincoln Connie with all the electric gremlin gauges) before the test, take the test have to majorily BS all the warnings and alarms the car gives going on the highway (cause electrical gremlins, runs fine) passed…
The parallel parking was on a steep-ish hill. No problem, except I didn't fully engage first gear, and drifted back enough to tap the pole before I caught the car with the brakes.
Another F hanging on the fridge.
Yup, passed written and in car with flying colors. On the driving test I only got dinged one point for not checking mirrors enough.
I most certainly did. If memory serves, the only issues I had on the behind the wheel test were not checking my mirrors enough (according to the examiner). Still driving the same car I used then (though my parents owned it at the time, and would until I moved out five years later).
I bet I still have the record for the lowest score on the "pre-trip inspection" portion of the Commercial Driver's License (CDL) in AZ. If you had the "chauffeurs license" before the new regs went into effect back in the mid 80's, all you had to do to get grandfathered in was turn in some paperwork by a certain date, but if you were a lazy dumb-ass and missed the deadline you had to take the whole test but your old license was still legal through the transition period (about 6 months). I never even looked at the book, took the written exam and passed, and made an appointment for the driving portion.
I show up and shake his hand, and as we get to the truck I tell him to hop on up. Well, the pre-trip inspection part of the test should be done in a fairly certain order and a lot of it takes place in the cab, so he just assumes I'm doing it all back-asswards and ready to take points off for things like starting it up without checking the oil first, etc. I fire it up once he gets in, release the brakes, and head toward the street and ask,
"Which way, through town or out to the Interstate?"
"Well, wait.. Aren't you going to do a Pre-Trip Inspection?"
"I already did it," bluffing. WTF is he talking about?
"What do you mean you already did it?"
"Well, while we were walking up to the truck, there wasn't a big puddle under it , and most of the tires appeared to have air… So which way?"
(exasparated): "Are you at least going to do a Brake Test?" (a huge part of the test, I would soon learn).
I jammed on the brakes and made the whole truck lurch, right as we got to the street.
"Brakes work fine. Which way?"
4 out of 200 points, a record I'm sure stands to this day.
We had Driver's Education in the summer. If you got an A in Driver's Ed, you got a waiver on the driving portion of getting your license. I got an A and just had to take the written test, which I passed with flying colors. Of course, I had been driving our farm trucks, tractors, and even our dump truck since before I could reach the pedals. Yea, you read that right. My dad used to have me drive our dump truck in 2nd gear (on the low side of the transmission) around the hay fields when we picked up our alfalfa. All I had to do was drive in concentric circles and try not to run over anyone.
I actually never took the car test. I've been driving for 20-some years, but originally I got the motorcycle license only, and when I went to the CA DMV to renew it, the desk droid just added it on- she said 'looks like some kind of computer error, they don't have your car license listed.'
I didn't say a word.
failed the first time passed the second time… barely
Wonderful to read!
Excellent job.
Great post!