Practical Driving Test - Last Episode

In Malaysia, owning a car is a bigger deal than learning how to drive. Here, it is the opposite.

Having a full UK driving license is a recognised skill that one can put in a CV along with other skills like MS Office, Adobe Photoshop etc! That's how big a deal it is!

Yesterday was my second attempt after two months to get a UK driving license. I woke up early feeling jittery that I would fail again.

I had in mind these things to remember:

- do the M-S-M (mirror, signal, manoeuvre)
- finish parallel parking in less than two car lengths
- look for blind spots
- how to open the car bonnet (this is not the normal type where you can pull a lever below the steering)
- not to stall!
- don't move until the pedestrian has cleared the lane even if he/she has passed the car
- put on the handbrake every time I needed to stop
- put both hands on the steering at all times (no digging nose or checking the phone!)
- check the mirror before I press the brake
- change to 2nd gear every time before I turn at a junction
- use the bus lane during the out of operations hour (you can fail if you don't do that!)
- not to signal at a turn in a one way street
- signal in every other turn
- check for speed limit (it's a driving fault if you drive below the speed limit!)
- remember all these!!

The more I tried to remember all these, the more I couldn't. In fact the more nervous I became because of the long list of things that I should and shouldn't do.

Just to keep myself calm, I kept repeating to myself it's a piece of cake. But everytime when I did that, the thought of my first test came to haunt. My confidence would be all over the place after a while.

As if I wasn't nervous enough, there was a twist on the event. Unlike Malaysia, the UK requires candidates to provide their own vehicles for the driving test. Hence the extra cost too.

Usually this would be the same car that you've been trained on by the driving school. The car that I had been training and meant to be tested on yesterday had a deep cut on the edge of the tyre. My driving instructor only found out about it when he picked me up.

The deep gash at the tyre edge. Notice the sports rim in this and not in the other

This would have disqualified me from going on with the test because it would have apparently undermined the safety of the examiner and I when taking the test. That's how strict it is.

So my driving instructor asked me to pull over to a nearby tyre shop. Thank God my exam time was at 10.44am and a tyre shop was opened by the time we found one at 10.15am. We had less than 20 minutes to fix a tyre as there was a mandatory 10-minute reporting time before the test.

My driving instructor, Mike, was a little manipulative. He was using me as the reason to accelerate the repair. It worked...in the end.

He said, "I've a student here. He'd be taking an exam in 20 minutes. Can you help?"

The foreman responded, "20 minutes?! I've got a few more cars to go before I can do yours. Can't jump queue. I don't think I can make it, mate" he said with an apologetic tone, "unless you wanna D-I-Y?" he continued.

I said, "Well, I don't mind if that's going to help."

Mike and I quickly picked up the tool from the boot and hurriedly jacked up the car. The tools were complicated. They came in parts that needed attaching to each other!

Struggling to change a tyre

The foreman sensed we were struggling with the tools. Then he dropped everything and wheeled over his hydraulic jack to help. Within seconds, the tyre was lifted mid-air.

The foreman came to the rescue!

Mike took over to loosen the tyre nuts. Again, he was asked to step aside as the foreman offered to help since he was already on it. I couldn't be more thankful. The foreman looked like he worked in an F1 race before. He changed the tyre, locked the nuts and rested the tyre on ground in less than 2 minutes! He didn't even charge us for labour!

Without wasting time, I drove to the test centre. I said a short prayer before I entered the room.

An examiner came out from the office and called out my name, like how a nurse would in a clinic. I responded.

After verifying the right documents, we went to the car and he did a check around it. Then he asked to get on with the test after the "show me tell me" component. I breathed a sigh of relief even though the tyre was changed. You never know what could happen since the spare tyre stood out from the three. The spare was without the sports rim!

The tyre incident has overwhelmed the nervousness I had earlier about the things I had to remember. But I was also very conscious of what I needed to and not do.

I thought I was not nervous until the time when I forgotten to engage first gear before moving away and expected the car to defy gravity at a slope. It dropped back a little before I slammed on the brake. I apologised. From memory, I would have been failed straight away! I guess the examiner was very understanding. He probably sensed I was nervous or because I apologised.

I also remember if you make a serious mistake but are able to recover from it with good control, the examiner can use his/her discretion to give you another chance. In my case, it didn't fall back like it was rolling downhill and hit an old lady or so. It was just a slight tug. So I guess it was considered good control. ;)

The test went on for 40minutes. Upon reaching the centre, the examiner asked me to park at a spot. He was ticking the form and writing something. It was eerily silent in the car when he asked me to switch off the engine. I didn't want to look at him. I kept my face looking in front.

Then he turned over and said, "Okay, I think I am able to offer you a full driving license. Congratulations, you have passed."

I turned my face to him and had a wide smile.

I was so happy I just thanked the examiner and told him, "This means a lot to me, you know!"

He smiled and continued, "Well, I think you did well. But there was a time I was hesitating whether or not to fail you. The part when you dropped back. But because overall, you had a good control of your driving, I decided to award you a pass."

The tick that I've been waiting for since August!

I couldn't contain my joy so I started sending the news via SMS to a few friends and colleagues after the test. They shared my disappointment earlier so it was only fair I shared the good news too. I told them the same thing that it meant a lot to me.

Can't wait to get my driving license. I was told it would take three weeks. But I could start driving now with the test pass certificate. This is how it should look

I didn't realise how much it meant but I knew it did. I sat down and consolidated my feelings. Then I thought about some of the things I could now do with a valid driving license. These are some I could list out immediately:

1. Take up a site position in engineering where a company vehicle may be provided
2. Do road trips anytime I want without the worry of the validity of the international license running out
3. Able to drive in EU countries! Autobahn here I come!!
4. Able to convert into a full Singaporean/ Australian/New Zealand/Commonwealth countries driving license had I chosen to leave this country for good and/or work in these countries later on.
5. Able to drive in other countries like Japan and South Korea without the need for international license.

Best of all, the UK driving license is for life! Unlike the Malaysian driving license where drivers have to pay RM30 or RM150 for international license every year, the UK driving license is a one-off payment for the driving test only and is valid for the rest of your life until you're 70.

I hear you ask how much have I spent on this? £747.50.

That's equivalent to renewing the Malaysian driving license for 130 years or the international driving license for 26 years. Then again, we all know our international driving license is only valid for a year in this country. If you're still on an international license after a year, obviously, you have been breaking the law.