950 goes to get a licence
This is from South Korea but could happen here:
A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver’s licence with near-daily attempts since April 2005, has finally succeeded on her 950th try.
The aspiring driver spent more than 5 million won (NZ$5836) in application fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test.
Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 last week, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the drivers’ licence agency in Jeonju, 210km south of Seoul.
Police said Cha took the test hundreds of times, but had no specific total. Local media said she took the test 950 times.
Now she must pass a driving test before getting her licence, Choi said.
I’ve always wondered why we have a system that says you are a fit driver for life, if say 30 years ago you managed to pass an exam on your tenth go.
If the Government really wanted to make a difference to road safety, they should force motorists to resit their driving licence every five to ten years.
And maybe have a limit on how often you can sit a test and fail, before you can retry.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
If the Government really wanted to make a difference to road safety, they should force motorists to resit their driving licence every five to ten years.
Sounds like nanny state political correctness gone mad to me.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
If the test is some sort of multiple choice like here, it’s pretty neigh impossible to have to take 950 tries to get 60%.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
dimmocrazy… Maybe there was an essay section?
November 10th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
In NZ if you can not remember the answers to basic road rules how could you drive in confidence?
Only need to watch when traffic lights are out or road cones up.
“OMG where do I go? help me I dunno what I’m doing”
November 10th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Now Korea has a 68 year old woman on a motorbike? Must be a token Certificate for trying hard I think.
November 10th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I think that insurance companies should licence drivers- and in return, the driver should insure with the company. Insurance companies are pretty good at assessing risk
November 10th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
I met her cousin the other day on Waiwhetu road (bloody place is chokka with asians). The silly bitch was doing 40k slowing to 30k on the corners in a 50k zone.
When I tooted and gave her the fingers (as you do to asians) and tried to pass her do you know what? She sped up to 70k.
I had to do 100k to pass her the smart ass bitch. Bloody asians! Time they learned the rules. None of them should have a licence!!
November 10th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Will Maori get WINZ to pay the fee?
November 10th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
the day I turned 15, I couldn’t drive (idle) a car up and down the driveway. The old man refused to teach me so employed an old mate who was a retired driving instructor to teach me. 1 month, 1 day later I had a full licence .. passed 100%.
That was July 1971 … since then I have been the proud owner of 2 Morrie 8’s (48’s I think), Hillman Hunter, Morrie Minor, Mini, Vauxhall Velox (yeh baby), Holden Belmont, Toyota Cressida, Commodore Station Wagon, Honda Accord, Mitsi Galant and now my special baby .. WRX.
Now, in that time I have had 2 meter maid tickets, a trailer not registered and 2 speed camera fines (minor) and 1 slight off when distracted (changing channel on radio).
Now, why am I wanking on like this .. if someone of my attention span can have such a record, why can’t anyone else .. basically I don’t want to die in a car crash so I’m relativly careful myself and I am soooooo aware on what is happening around me with all those useless drivers out there.
I was lucky that last year, my work sent a group to Puke Raceway for a driving course .. what an eye opener, even for an old bloke like me .. I would be a fan on having the Govt subsidizing new drivers for courses like this and shortening the drivers learner time.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
It had to be a woman!
November 10th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Jabba,
56 is not old! 82 is old and the ma in law scares the shit outta me.
What happened to the Morries? I want one as a project.
Kids need to learn in a shit hack car in a paddock, passing a scratchy test is shit and driving around the block with a moron Instructor is total rubbish.
One of the reasons for bad driving is bad teaching.
November 10th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Force drivers to resit every 5 – 10 years? Why, when drivers get better with experience?
November 10th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Jabba – My Dad taught me at 12. I was driving us home from Mum’s shop at 13. Boned up on city driving in Rome when I was 14. I think I am pretty safe driver. Don’t speed, try to do everything right. Survived the road so far but it is so easy to get complacent and forget you are controlling a ton or more of metal.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Why should you resit your test every five to ten years if you have not sinned and have managed to stay on the hard top. Perhaps if one is unfortunate enough to build up demerits the case could be made for resiting the test. Other then that this sounds like an idea dreamed up by the parasites in central government looking to boost the coffers. No doubt some of these tossers will be reading this and think it a brilliant idea, thanks David.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Nanny State dropped the older driver licence tests in 2006.
“Why did the government decide to change the older driver licence renewal system?
New Zealand is one of the very few countries that requires drivers aged 80 and over to undertake a mandatory on-road driving test. The UK, Western European countries, and most Australian and US states have no mandatory age-based on-road testing of older drivers. Overall, their crash statistics for older drivers are no better or worse than the general population.”
On the other hand people can fall asleep and drive off the road at any age.
November 10th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Quick question – Is driving on a public road a privilege you earn, or a right?
November 10th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Johnboy; people like that get to vote as well, which of course is why the greenies and Lairbour are still around. No one should be allowed to vote until they have passed the driving test with the test car.
More to the point though, kiwi’s who can’t pass the test just go and drive anyway. Thousands of them if the last lot of figures I saw is anything to go on.
Think about it. When was the last time you were stopped and asked for your DL?
Last time for me was when I got rumbled for going too fast. $60 fine so not too fast. Hadn’t been going too fast would still not have been stopped. Now that would be about 40 years of driving and I do a fair number of miles each week in the course of my work.
As for regular testing, well it sure has some merit given what I see on a daily basis but only if done in a simulator where the girls can’t flash a bit of leg at some horny useless instructor and get a pass. A 10 year test interval wouldn’t bother me and I would say that since i did my road test I have never ever locked at a road code. I drive by commonsense, logic and awareness and so far it has served me well. I ensure that I avoid distraction inside the vehicle and must say that since phones have been banned the round town driving has much improved with the drivers actually concentrating on what they are doing instead of havind a flaming row on their cellphones whilst the have a stearing wheel in the hands. Bloody good move and anybody caught should get double demerits.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Uh I think I just went over your head there V2. I must have been going fast enough to fly?
November 10th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
It’s simple – anyone over 80 can catch the fucking bus. Anyone under 18 can catch the fucking bus. Road toll halved.
November 10th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Crumbs … did you really say that, David? It sounds like the sort of thing that might come from the keyboard of a raving big-gummint commie Labour supporter! i’m serious; if the Clark Labour government had brought in a measure such as the one you’re suggesting, would you and your commenters not have been squealing from the rooftops about a crazy nanny state gone mad?
November 10th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
steve .. both long gone .. great cars. 1 had the e type head lights and the other the altered ones. The wind out windscreens were fantastic. the hook on the radiator wasn’t too flash .. a mate, Kevin tunnell, poor bastard, was sitting on the bonnet as we hooned around the sports stadium in Springvale (Wanganui) when the pass door clicked opened to the safety catch .. I slammed on the breaks and saw his arse disappear .. he ended up with 3-5 stitches next to his brown eye .. funny as a fart.
Had a slipping clutch as well, had 5 of us in it going u the back road of St Johns Hill .. all the boys had to bale and push to keep moving and jump back in only to bale again. What a great car .. sigh
November 10th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
“If the Government really wanted to make a difference to road safety, they should force motorists to resit their driving licence every five to ten years”
I dont agree with you on that, unless you can demonstrate most accidents are due to lack of knowledge of the law – as opposed the intentional breaking of it
November 10th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Just imagine the revenue for the Governement. 950 tests at lets say $50 a pop. The Governement is making money hand over fist while that is one expensive licence.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:32 am
Your parents gave you a retest every year to make sure you still knew how to ride a bike didn’t they?
November 11th, 2009 at 1:04 am
I don’t disagree with drivers needing a refresher course now and then….hell I can’t remember half of the road rules I had to know to sit my written many moons ago.But compulsion David…? For bad drivers with demerits etc sure…fair enough…do the crime do the time.But for everyone else it should be incentivised…like insurance discounts for attending refreshers etc….
The best piece of driving advice I every heard was from one Homer J Simpson who,in answer to the suggestion he should practice defensive driving said “The best defence is a good offence!”
November 11th, 2009 at 6:23 am
I should have added that when I was a teenager (17 odd) I did drive too fast at times. We used to race around Mt Maunganui streets at night like it was a race track. When one of my mates drove off a bank (luckily only a few bruises to the occupants) it slowed me down completely.
November 11th, 2009 at 9:16 am
>If the Government really wanted to make a difference to road safety, they should
>force motorists to resit their driving licence every five to ten years.
I agree with Patrick’s post and really don’t like this idea. The people who would fail are probably the ones who ding your car in the supermarket carpark but I doubt they are killing anyone. The road deaths are caused by people who could drive perfectly well if forced to sit a test but choose not to drive that way the rest of the time.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Road deaths aren’t the only issue. Carpark dings and road efficiency matter alot.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Johnboy you are correct, Asain drivers just like the ACT Party are a blight on society.
November 11th, 2009 at 10:54 am
John Boy …I was told by a National Party insider the main reason Pansey Wong was given a cabinet position was Public Safety !! After seeing Wongs driving ability they believed a chauffeur driven car was the only option, well I suppose who could blame them.
November 11th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Sounds like you’re feeling your inner socialist today DPF. All these rules!
Just make the test harder, or the pass mark higher.
And yes there should probably be more renewal tests.
November 11th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Why should I have to sit another test? I have been driving for more years than I care to think about. I am as competent as anyone else and safer than a lot. I haven’t forgotten how to turn right or left or who to give way to. If you ask me what distance I should have in front of me before passing I might not be able to tell you but I damn well know when in that situation.
The only thing that concerns me are very old people who might be sliding into alzheimers or senility. A test might then be in order especially if the families want them to give up their licences.
November 11th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
if I had to sit a test now, i would fail big time .. 38 years or so driving and sod all “incidents/issues” and they would take my 3 licences off me .. I still have my life time licence, my 1st non life time licence and my present licence that runs out in a few years.