Once upon a time (a long time ago), I passed the Oregon DMV's driving test and got my very first driver's license. This fact was good enough for the Commonwealth of Virginia, which simply exchanged my Oregon license for a Virginia one, no questions asked. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia were similarly trusting of my driving skillz. But the fact that I originally took my driving test in Oregon was not good enough, it turns out, for the State of Oregon.
I know for a fact (because I saw it) that I am still in the Oregon DMV's database, complete with a rather cherubic picture of me at 15. Regardless, when I went last week to get my shiny new Oregon driver's license, I was informed that I would have to re-take the knowledge portion of the driving test. All I had to do, they told me, was get 27 questions out of 35 right - not a big deal. Until I saw the questions.
Some of the questions are obvious: you should come to a full stop at a stop sign; don't wear headphones while driving; move over for emergency vehicles.
Some of them involve admittedly important information, like the legal limit for blood alcohol levels or that, at least in the wild west, you can turn left at a red light from a two-way street onto a one-way street (not that I would do this - but at least now I won't flip out if other people do).
But then there are questions like:
- Your car breaks down on the freeway. You can pull over to the side of the road and turn on your hazard lights if you can be seen from behind by what amount of distance? (Answer: 200 feet)
- What is the greatest cause of accidents involving motorcycles? (Answer: Turning left in front of an oncoming motorcycle)
- You are on a country road, following someone on horseback, and that person waves at you with their left arm. What does this mean? (Answer: I still have no frickin clue)
- You are behind a vehicle, like a tractor, with a slow-moving vehicle sign. What is the greatest speed such a vehicle is capable of achieving? (WARNING: The answer to this question is not in the Oregon driver's manual)
Long story short,* I retook the test the next day and passed. But it still smarts a little.
I will say this, though, in the Oregon DMV's favor: I am grateful they allow you to proofread your personal information before they print out your license. This is a simple and obvious concept, yet for some reason it is not a standard practice at all state DMVs. It would have prevented me from having the wrong street address in Virginia, a misspelled middle name in Massachusetts, and the wrong birth date and gender in DC.
Thank you, Oregon DMV, for making me a woman again.
* As they say, "too late."
Massachusetts misspelled my name too, when I went and got my license last summer. Always baffles me when people transpose letters while reading off of something I wrote out carefully.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're safely back in Oregon!
Having taken both the Washington and Oregon driver's test I am similarly baffled.
ReplyDeleteWashington has an absurdly difficult driving test that includes not only parallel parking but backing around a corner within nine inches of the curb. That said, the written test is stupid-easy (or it was in the 1990's). The multiple choice test literally has a question with a picture of a stop sign asking, "what is this?"
On the flipside, the Oregon driving test is abysmally easy - - and IT SHOWS. I think a left turn was the most difficult thing you have to do. Then, like you said, there's this insane written test.
I don't remember taking a driving or written test for California. I think if the check clears they'll take you.
Anyway, thanks for the informative posts. I'm already looking forward to making some left turns on red.
P.S. I shanked those Algebra tests too and, being half-Asian, I am genetically pre-disposed to being good at math. So don't feel too bad.
I knew you could do it!
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