Cross-post [In part]
These days, passing a driving test in the UK is a time consuming and expensive business. A one-hour lesson costs around [the equivalent of] US$40 and it’s not uncommon to have 50 to 100 such lessons. Then before you sit the practical test you have to take the theory exams. First comes 35 multiple choice questions of which you must get 30 correct. Then you have to demonstrate you can recognize the screenwash bottle from the antifreeze and know how to check your oil level. Finally comes the hazard awareness test. This consists of a movie running on a touch-screen display and you have to tap the screen every time you see a potential hazard. It then measures reaction times and if you do badly, you fail. The practical test lasts about 50 minutes and as well as being assessed for your use of mirrors, the car’s instruments, road positioning, observing speed limits, lack of hesitation, carrying out an emergency stop, etc, it will also include 3 of the following: Reversing around a corner, reverse parallel parking, reverse bay parking and a turn in the road. Hitting curbs will almost certainly be an instant fail. Make any other mistake considered major by the examiner and you fail. Make the same minor mistake three times and you fail. Make 12 minor mistakes and you fail. Unofficially, the examiners have pass and fail quotas to meet, so if too many other people have been passing lately you could still fail. If you do fail, nevermind, just hand over another [equivalent of about] $125 and you get to have another shot in about 3 months when the current waiting list for tests runs it’s course. Then, when you do pass, you can start learning to drive properly :)
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Before I went to the US last year, I made sure to read up on the rules and regulations for driving on American roads. I didn’t want to assume anything. I knew the basic stuff like you drive on the right hand side of the road [unlike here] and that I’d have to look on the left-hand side of the car to find the steering wheel and pedals [again, unlike here]. I’d heard you could sometimes drive through red stop lights if it was clear and you were turning right [unlike here… unfortunately] and that roundabouts/traffic circles were rare in the States [Yep, you’ve guessed it, unlike here]. Probably the most important piece of information I learned was about the importance of stopping for School Buses. I wouldn’t have known about that if I hadn’t read about it. Once over there, I think I adapted to it pretty well. I drove just over 800 miles in that week and apart from a couple of exceptions I don’t think I caused anyone much concern and likewise they didn’t do anything untoward that I saw. However, all that driving was in North Carolina and the last poll I saw showed that driving standards there were pretty good, so I know better than to assume everywhere in the US is just as good [Oregon topped the poll, incidentally]. But from what I’ve seen and heard, you could probably do worse...
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The above are two of the paragraphs taken from my latest post for BBSka's site. If you`re interested, you can find the full post HERE :)
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Before I went to the US last year, I made sure to read up on the rules and regulations for driving on American roads. I didn’t want to assume anything. I knew the basic stuff like you drive on the right hand side of the road [unlike here] and that I’d have to look on the left-hand side of the car to find the steering wheel and pedals [again, unlike here]. I’d heard you could sometimes drive through red stop lights if it was clear and you were turning right [unlike here… unfortunately] and that roundabouts/traffic circles were rare in the States [Yep, you’ve guessed it, unlike here]. Probably the most important piece of information I learned was about the importance of stopping for School Buses. I wouldn’t have known about that if I hadn’t read about it. Once over there, I think I adapted to it pretty well. I drove just over 800 miles in that week and apart from a couple of exceptions I don’t think I caused anyone much concern and likewise they didn’t do anything untoward that I saw. However, all that driving was in North Carolina and the last poll I saw showed that driving standards there were pretty good, so I know better than to assume everywhere in the US is just as good [Oregon topped the poll, incidentally]. But from what I’ve seen and heard, you could probably do worse...
***
The above are two of the paragraphs taken from my latest post for BBSka's site. If you`re interested, you can find the full post HERE :)