Problem is that this is no guarantee for D-day success. As I sat waiting in the VicRoads waiting area for him to come back 3 people; that is one, two, three- people came back from their D-day having failed in under 30 minutes. All three of these learner drivers were leaving the car park just as son-who-does-not-have-a-license-yet and I had parked and were going inside. The first once came back 20 minutes later the other 2 shortly thereafter.
My question is:
HOW THE HELL DID THESE KIDS GET THROUGH THE LEARNER'S TEST AND THE HAZARD TEST AND CLOCK UP 120 HOURS OF SUPERVISED DRIVING ONLY TO FAIL AT THE FINAL ACTUAL DRIVING TEST ???????????
What does this tell us all? 120 hours people !!! 120 hours of me sitting in the passenger seat, giving help, guidance, tips and encouragement. 120 hours of filling in the freaking log book which takes longer than the census form. 120 hours worth of petrol burning, time wasting, sometimes knuckle biting dedication and commitment....not to mention a number of $35 per hour professional driving lessons. 120 hours and for what? I'll tell you... for the still very real possibility that my son could flunk the actual D-day test and send me into a nervous breakdown.
So what does it tell us all this 120 hour bullshit. It tells us that a crap driver is a crap driver no matter how many hours they log, how many teachers they have. So instead of costing me thousands of dollars in fuel and time test my son after 50 and if he fails make him wait till 100 then 150 then 200hrs. You get the gist I am sure.
I should add here that my son is an excellent driver and was from the very beginning - he took to it like a fish to water. Some people will never get the hang of driving after 5000 hours.
Now get this - one of the kids testing could NOT read, write or speak English. Tell me this kid will know when the traffic sign says 'no right turn' 'merge left - road works ahead' or anything else. She was doing her test with an interpreter in tow. Tell me MY kid is safe on the road with people who are not. Like the grey head dearie who parked across 2 spaces in the very same car park today, then got out and pulled out a walker from the boot. Tell me she has the manual dexterity to drive safely and keep my baby from harm. Tell me she can hit the brakes hard and not hit anyone.
We are putting high expectations on the wrong people.
What an afternoon........4 weeks to D-day when son-who-does-not-have-a-license-yet hopefully gets one so I can sleep in. No!... don't say what you're thinking, just don't say it - I amliving on the dream of sleeping past 6.30 am and not having to deal with school traffic. Please do NOT burst my bubble.
I need a coffee.......
*****
I LOVE THIS! EXCELLENT!
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