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So yeah, I dont know if anywhere else in the world has this utmost horrid system of determining whether drivers are good and deserve a licence or whether to give them the "bonus licence from the cracker jack box", but Canada does.
Now for people who dont know about this system, let me explain it a little.
Here in Canada, you can take your learners licence test any time after you turn 16. It used to be that some months following the receipt of your learners licence, you took a road test and were granted (or not), your class 5 licence so you may be "authorized by your state or province to safely operate a motor vehicle of the class 5 section".
Now, that no longer happens. Now, you receive your learner licence after a long ardous written exam which asks questions and to identify signs you may or may not ever see in your next 40-80 years of driving.
After you have your Learner's Licence for a Minimum time period of 24 Months (yes thats 2 years), you may take your road test. Happy Day, get to be a real driver, woohoo here it comes....WRONG!!!! Now you "graduate" to a class N licence, to become ever known to the driving world as that Nerd with the New Drivers licence. After driving around on your own for the next 12 months (yes 1 year), you are finally allowed to take your road test (yes another stupid road test), to test you on, you guess it, the exact same   they tested you on before. This time though, inevitably the "examiner" doing your test is a completely different person than the one you had before, and this jackass decides its time to trick you. No No already having put $200 big ones up for getting to this point is not enough money in ICBC's pocket oh no. Nope the lady today tells me "the average driver takes 3-5 times of road testing before passing to the class 5 level".
That means not only have they made a cool 200 bucks off you already for written exams, road testing, phony licences that only last a couple years and have severe restrictions on them such as "inable to carry more than 1 passenger at any time" "zero tolerance for alcohol" "no driving between the hours of 1 am and 6 am", and the like,
But NOW they are not only gonna get your 50 bucks out of you today for the test you failed because you went 35km through a 30km school zone in which there was neither a) a school anywhere within visibility b)nor a sign stating it was a school zone except OH OH OH 25 feet up the road before the spot where you turned onto it and couldnt possibly see it.
Now they are going to rip you of another 50 bucks in 7 days time, and probably an additional 50-150 dollars beyond that because "most drivers take 3-5 times to pass from a class N to a class 5".

YET: To understand the absolute subjectivity of each driving examiner, my test contained a total of 1 violation for which I failed, while to my left an old lady who mumbles has just passed successfully from her class N to her class 5 with 3 out of 4 Violations clearly marked off on her paper and the instructor is saying so nicely "its ok ma'am, those were no big mistakes, I dont see why you cant have your licence", while I am being told I will have to pay an additional 50 dollars to try once more to get my licence after 1, count em 1, single violation. Oh and not to mention she also had to state to me that I am "a far too cautious driver to receive my licence at this time".

Go figure.
It seems to me that it is indeed true, every new motorist must endure 3 years of stickers on their cars identifying them as such, strict rules, and failed tests and hundreds of dollars of fees, yet the old lady with the severe violations recieves the "freebie of the day, one drivers licence right smack dab out of the cracker jack box".
I look forward to my days of driving when she one day cuts me off then runs into a house because she has no mental or physical capability of driving safely.


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yeah, we have that, but we could quite easily get the examiner to re-examine for free if they tried to pull a swifty like that. Even the police would have difficulty charging you if you sped in that zone if there was no notification of limitation in that area.

If they have a problem with you going 5 km over the speed limit in a school zone that is inadequately signposted they should take it up with whoever installs the signs, OR as a responsible road user who is familiar with the area and values the lives of children, they should have either informed you or chosen a different route.

Our licencing progran is Learners for minimum 6 months, Red Provisional for 12 months and Green Provisional for 24 months.
Its a touch-screen test for the Ls, a driving test for the reds, a touch-screen test for the greens, and i think another touch-screen to get your blacks (full licence)

I'm still stuck on my greens.

Green P's.
Who's bright idea was that? I sound like a side-dish.

To top it off, I have to display these nasty plastic plates, and now, NOW people with red Ps are stealing the green Ps off other people's cars so they look more able, leaving me stranded without plates, meaning a heafty fine if i get caught driving without them!
AND the RTA (DMV =) changes the rules so that we can now have the plates INSIDE the car to stop this happenbing, BUT it seems nobody has informed the police, who still are charging drivers for illegally displaying the plates inside the car!!!

Now i have to travel around with 4 plates. 2 to appease the cops and get stolen, and 2 to display correctly in case the police suddenly catch up

You think you look like a nerd? i'm wearing green Ps on a metallic blue car! not only am i obviously a useless driver (yeah right, don't get me started on that one!) but it clashes!!!


GRRRR.


[new law too, P drivers now cannot drive V8s or high power:weight cars like hotted-up WRXs, and if you lose your licence, you can only have one passenger (that one is fair i guess, it takes a fair bit to lose a licence). You can get exemptions on the high-powered car thing in case a V8 is all that you have access to.]

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

uhh, in WA you were always able to put the plates on the inside of the car.

in fact, you could get ones that stuck to the window so you could see through them also

i'm just about to take my drivers test.

that is once i get my car insured

Here's how you get license in the US...

- Be 15 and take Driver's Ed
- Be 15.5 and take a written test to get your Learner's Permit
- Get 50 hours of driving with a parent (at least 10 at night) over 6 months
- Be 16 and take the driving/visual test
- If you pass, you get your license

It's pretty easy to get it here I guess. I got mine a couple months after I turned 16.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Yeah, I've always been amazed at how young people can drive in America. But I think it's great that they teach driving in school. We have to pay for lessons and find time outside of school/work over here.

Qld is a bit different to NSW in its licensing, a bit more lenient I think. Here you can take an L's test at 16 - it was a written test when I did it, but that was seven years ago - which gives you a Learner's Permit. You have to drive with an open licensed driver and display 'L' plates, have zero alcohol etc. After 6 months you can do a road test and you get your provisional license. In Qld you don't have to display P Plates, and there aren't really any restrictions except zero alcohol and less points on your license (I think it's 6). After 3 years you can then get your Opens, but there's no test, it's automatic. Opens gives you 12 points on your license and a 0.05 alcohol limit.

Some of this might have changed from what I understand though, because I've been on my Learners for nearly seven years so haven't ever done the road test or moved onto the other licenses (I figure next time I go in to renew my leaner's permit they might give me an award for Longest Held Learners )

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

you know, if you didnt make those stupid mistakes on the test, you would be able to get a proper license.

a. there is NEVER an excuse for speeding UNLESS you are driving an emergency vehicle - just get over it, you do it, put up with the consequences. And be thankful that the consequences were failing a test and not killing a child!
b.Zero tolerance to alcohol - dam right

learn to drive properly, dont make those mistakes and you'll get the license.

What's the problem?

-------------------------------------------------
I like to think that whoever designed marine life was thinking of it as basically an entertainment medium. That would explain some of the things down there, some of the unearthly biological contraptions

Tiny Clanger,
Yes zero tolerance for alcohol is fine, ive no problem with that as I dont drink anyway.
But did you even read my post?
There was No school anywhere in visibility (all houses as far as I could see in both directions. I was on the street for exactly 20 Feet, and there was NO signs posted.

Besides what I am really upset about is the fact that I made 1 very minor mistake and cant get my real licence after being on this GLP since I was 20 (26 now),
and yet the 60+ year old lady beside with her sheet literally full of violations got her licence. That is the real injustice. The subjectivity of it.
I think you are jumping to conclusions. I am a very good driver, very cautious.
Does it not seem very ODD to you that I would be criticized by the driver examiner for being "Too cautious"??????



Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

You think you look like a nerd? i'm wearing green Ps on a metallic blue car! not only am i obviously a useless driver (yeah right, don't get me started on that one!) but it clashes!!!

Drive without a licence like I do..It's a lot easier.

Cory Addict,

I think it varies state to state; down in PA we do it like this.

-Drivers Ed at 15 (optional)
-Eligibility for permit at 16
-After 6 months and 50 hours of practice you are eligible for your license. However, it is a Jr. license and has a few restrictions.

I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

Cautious is good, timid is bad.

I wait for large gaps so that even if i bugger up my turn, I'll not cause a problem. This drives my mother crazy if she is in the car with me or driving behind me, as I hold up traffic a little (for about 5-15 seconds, they'll live).

If I can't see past parked cars, i won't take advantage of a "turn left on red permitted after stopping" sign. I almost lost out on getting my red Ps for that, however I did point out that it said permitted not necessary.


And I'd suggest you find a different examiner.

I took my test in a smaller town where I went to tech college. I didn't know the area, but I was able to see what was going on (less cars) and I wasn't constantly anticipating what would come next as I would have done in my home town.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

Hi Call,
yes that is exactly what I am going to do.
I took my test in a city near me, large, busy, and while I do know most of the major routes, I am oblivious to the majority of the "outer city".
I have booked another examination in the town I grew up, smaller, easier, and with no strange surprises, such as schools that are not visible from any direction!
I went down that road today and you know what I found out:
There is neither a school, nor any school routes on that road. We had passed the school 10km up the road in a different neighborhood, where signs were clearly posted and I had slowed accordingly.

I am not a timid driver either, but I like to make sure I have enough space before I pull out.
On my test from learner to novice, I refused to go in a situation where the lane to the left was partially blocked by a large truck, with a car pulled out well into the oncoming traffic to turn. The truck coming towards me was 2 car lengths, maybe 3 away, and had to move visibly towards my lane to avoid the car poking out, and my examiner said I should have gone.
I turned to him and said if I would have been driving his vehicle that would fine, but I could neither afford to replace my passenger door nor front end, which would have invetably been the case had I pulled out.

Do they still do road tests in other places with company cars or do they make you bring your own too where you live?


Come Play Yahtzee With Me!
http://games.atari.com
Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames

when i went for my test (long story about that that i won't go into), i used the driving school's car.

when I go for this one, it will be in my own car.

as an american who passed his test the first time about 2 days after he turned 16, i have to say that i think it is *too* easy to get licensed to drive in america. i think i read somewhere that in germany you can't drive till you're 18, and if you don't pass the test with 100% accuracy you can't get your license. when i took my test, the only part i failed was parallel parking. but they let me have my license anyway because you don't *need* to be able to parallel park to drive a car safely. but judging from some of the moron drivers on the road these days, i'd have to say that the cracker jack license is alive and well all over the place...

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"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman