Driving

Learning to drive in the UK has been a challenging experience. Everything is closer here - tighter turns, cars coming at you in your lane, lanes only wide enough for one car at a time, narrow winding roads. But has graciously enabled us to make our way around and feel fairly comfortable. Until now! Driving in the UK is ONE thing. Getting a license is quite another! I managed to pass my theory test (written exam) without much trouble (if you consider several months of study "not much trouble"). But the driving portion of the exam is unbelievably...stupid. No, it really is! You cross your arms over one another on the steering wheel or "palm" the wheel - you fail. You back around a corner without constantly looking both backward and forwards while staying within a foot of the curb - and you fail. And here's my favorite: the 3 point turn (which in reality is a 10-15 point turn, since the roads are too narrow for a mere 3). You must turn the vehicle around, without wheels touching either curb, and then engage the handbrake inbetween each gear change (to keep all that .0005 mph momentum from thrusting you into the curb), all the while not holding up traffic - or you fail! Corners MUST be taken in second gear. Try changing a gear or turning on a blinker without FIRST looking in your rear view mirror - and you fail! Fail to look in same said mirror for a period longer than 5 seconds - and you fail! Pull in front of the never ending lines of traffic - and you're creating a hazard. But FAIL to pull in front and you're docked for hesitation! It's obvious (even to Brits who hate the test as much as me) that the test is not to see if you know how to drive (legally, safely, etc.)...but only to see if you can drive PROPERLY. Which means - think of any advice or good idea anybody ever had about ways to make driving safer - turn them into immovable laws - and turn psychopathic power hungry neo-nazi's loose on the public to enforce them as driving testers. They say the average person needs 45 professional lessons (@ £20 per hour) to pass the exam. Well, today I spent my first £20. Only £880 to go! (By the way, Melissa passed her written portion of the exam today - congrats). And Janie is quivering in the wings. Pray for us!!