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driving test take 1 | |
June 01st, 2021 | |
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I took my written driving test on Monday. I did not pass. | |
This isn't a surprise, though. In fact, it's the norm! My wife | |
also failed to pass on Monday and it was her second attempt. No | |
one in the room passed during her first testing. Only one person | |
passed on the day we took it together. | |
Why is that? Well, it's a very hard test! The driving exam in | |
Iceland covers a lot more material and subject matter than | |
anything I saw in the United States in the various states I lived | |
in. It also goes into greater detail on those topics and is | |
incredibly pedantic. Do _you_ know the minimum mm depth tire tread | |
can be to pass inspection? Do you know the maximum towing capacity | |
for your driving license class? There are also quite a few | |
questions about insurance policies, the various road and safety | |
agencies and their roles, and even first aid. | |
The reason we didn't pass, though, is not just because of the | |
material, but the scoring itself. The test is 30 questions long | |
with part A being the first 15 and mainly being focused on signage | |
while part B is the second 15 and is focused on everything else. | |
You are allowed two mistakes on part A and five mistakes on part | |
B. Any mistakes unused on part A can be applied to part B, such | |
that if you had no mistakes on A you can have up to 7 on B. | |
But what constitutes a mistake? Ahh, here's where things get | |
tricky. The questions are multiple choice and you mark a mistake | |
for each incorrect response, not each incorrect question. Since | |
each question has three choices that means you can get three | |
mistakes per question! | |
In fact, that's what I did to fail mine. I got everything correct | |
on the test in both sections except for a single question on | |
section A where I misidentified a road marking, choosing option | |
"C" while the correct answer was "A & B". Thus, 3 mistakes on one | |
question and a fail. | |
I'll test again at the end of the month and hopefully pass this | |
time around. Once that's done I still have to meet with a driving | |
instructor, deal with their manditory lessons, and then finally be | |
allowed to take the behind-the-wheel portion of the exam. Yeesh! |