written by owen on 2005-Aug-15.
After failing my driving exam last wednesday I fell in to a state of total despondency (a state of low spirits caused by loss of hope or courage ). I failed the "hill start", then passed the "reverse through the lane" and parallel parking. I blame the god forsaken car - 1000cc simply isn't good for anything especially starting on an incline. Plus it also needs some major servicing. I can now see why people choose to bypass "the man" and buy their drivers license under the table.
Thats not the worst part either. The fact that I have to wait until August 30th in order to retake the test again is torture enough unto it self. Why have you forsaken me? WHYYYYYYY? Even before the yard test I was worried that I may have failed the written exam - I get paranoid. I think I got 3 out of the 25 questions wrong. In fact I am pretty damn sure of it. But I wasn't worried about any of that as much I was worried about the hand signals that had to use in the road test which NEVER HAPPENED. Luckily I won't have to do the stuff I passed over again.
I have already run over budget on the driving lessons. Not only do I have to pay $20 USD to do the test again. But I have to pay the driving tutor $67 USD so that I can use his shitty car to do the test. Can I say mofo? I know that guy must be smiling right now because the his other 2 students failed as well (notedly much worst than I did). But the August 30th thing hurts me most of all.
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comments
Hopefully, with all you've said, the drivers on your roads are better drivers than they are here in the states. The tests aren't nearly as involved as yours. Hill start? We have no such thing. I can safely assume you failed it because the car is a manual and rolled backwards.
I have a question for you, how the hell can you just buy a license? Here, in the states, its all stored in a computer so if you have a fake license, you'll get busted as soon as the cop goes back to the car to write you a ticket.
by michael_halvorsen 2005-Aug-15
so if the teacher's other students failed, it means he is not a good driver. Change the driver.
my driving instructor was excellent. passed the first time.
will this not be your third time tking the test next time?
by Yamfoot 2005-Aug-15
We have a paralel thing to the hill start. Just engage any break (hand or foot) release the clutch untill you feel it catch, then slowly release the brake and at the same time increase the accelerator. A total of $87 dollars for a new test is nothing. Over here we pay way over $300 for a exam.
by Arie 2005-Aug-16
jamaica's pretty small isn't it? can't you just walk everywhere?
by tristan 2005-Aug-16
@yamfoot either it was nerves or pure suckiness why the other guy and girl failed. But I on the other hand under estimated the suckiness of the car. can't really blame it on the teacher. I can only buy a car I could practice for free. But you can buy a car without a license.
@tristan no
@micheal one of the many ways to beat the system and avoid the driving test. All you have to do is pay some one in the chain of authority and they can get it done. no biggy. Also the license is real you just don't have to pass/do the test.
@arie don't try to overshadow my pain with logic.
by owen 2005-Aug-16
God is good, he made certain that the Jamaican driving populace did not have to endure Owen, on top of all their other frustrations ;-)
Naw, I'm just kidding... Poor Owen. Well, make sure you practice up on hill starting then. Better luck next time!
by mad bull 2005-Aug-16
"practice up" meaning paying more money for extra lessons. Which I guess is why they posted the RE-TEST date to 20 freaking days away. I think the DMV is in cohorts with the driving instructors.
by owen 2005-Aug-16
@tristan it takes about 3-4 hours to drive the full length of jamaica. Over that distance is alot of bush and unscrupulous characters. Walk it at our own peril.
@micheal as owen described there is alot of corruption within the driving authority itself that is why the "bought" liscenses come out real. :)
by alex 2005-Aug-16
on the bright side, u wont be paranoid about the written test the next time u go down to the DMV
by alex 2005-Aug-16
our parents made us promise never to leave the village or wear the bad color. Else the ones "we must never speak of" will get you.
by owen 2005-Aug-16
'the village' reference?
none the less, that really sucks you have corruption at that level. we have corruption here too, but not quite at that level.
question for those who have to take a hill start, do you have to take the test with a manual (or standard transmission)? can't you just skip that part by taking the test with an automatic? do you have to rent the instructors car or can you use a friends?
by michael_halvorsen 2005-Aug-17
@michael
you can choose between manual or automatic, but if you take the test with an automatic car i believe you will only be authorised to drive automatic cars, ull have an automatic car liscense which will incite much laughter from your peers. It is a bit of a disgrace.
If you use an automatic car, you still have to do the hill start, but its not as hard obviously.
You can use any car you want as long as it is in good working condition. But you would be surprised how hard it is to borrow a friends car, worse, one that is in good condition :) I hear they will fail you if the car is not road worthy.
by alex 2005-Aug-17
I didn't say anything about corruption. Jamaica is a wonderful country and we have the best prettiest website in the caribbean.
by owen 2005-Aug-17
lol in new guinea, all you need is cash (or a carton of beer) and presto! instant licence..
but (like jamaica) it's still an awesome country despite the (very little but still) bad publicity it mite get.
no pretty websites yet tho.
by me 2005-Aug-20