For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 04, 2021

Good Luck Mike, on your evaluator’s face, you need all the luck you can get!

Well the one that I had for my first test, just took notes and made no real comments until the end. Then he was kind enough to point out my mistakes and give me some constructive pointers. Mostly, that while I had had my permit for a long while, I had not done nearly enough driving to get me enough experience to pass the exam. And that without enough time driving before returning for a second try I would just end up failing again.

I think mike just may pass this time.

I took my driver’s test in snowy conditions. I was going uphill and turning left at a intersection and the rear wheel drive car slipped a bit and I immediately corrected and kept control. He actually complimented me because of the conditions.

The good part about this now was that the curb was not visible thus parallel parking, my Nemesis, was not required.

bonne chance, Michel

Took my test during the long running and totally corrupt of secretary of state Carpenter. Most of the people in that office had their hand out so a well placed monetary offering left on the seat usually worked. My examiner left it there and still passed me. That was 1957 in Chicago

At the time that I took my driver’s test, our RMV had their own “Police” and they administered the driving tests!! There’s nothing more intimidating then having an armed RMV LEO observing you taking a “test!!” Failed the first time — had to go back two weeks later, for a re-test with the same person!! Went around the block, returned to the RMV building and got my license!! The re-test took all of 5 minutes!!

;-)

Oh, look… it’s St. Michael in 20 years!

Department of Motor Vehicles is the United States. In Ontario, where this comic strip is supposedly set, the customer service operations are split between ServiceOntario and Drive Test. All renewals and all motor vehicle stuff go to ServiceOntario and all drive test stuff and Medical’s go to Drive Test. Calling it the DMV is pandering to Lynn’s US audience.

Looks like Mike’s evaluator had news that was just as good as what Mike received from Martha.

Oh no it’s Martha’s father giving Mike the test. I hope he didn’t hear that Mike broke Martha’s heart.

The last thing I had to do was back into a parking spot between two cars in the DMV parking lot. I did it but I was inches away on my side. He threw up his hands and told me I passed. I had to get out on his side, LOL! I’m still lousy at backing in, but the backup camera really helps.

I passed my test, not because I used the popup testing centre at the church on Wednesday (mentioned that before) I was at the Ministry driving centre, a little city for testing. Drove around the streets and though the fake railroad crossing with only an X (no lights or gates) and mountains on each side, only enough room for one car to cut through. I failed that obstacle. Didn’t know if I passed, after the test the examiner went inside the building and I had to put all my paper work into an automatic drawer on the side of the building (technology!) the drawer ate my results, insurance and other items. The person monitoring just looked at the mess and said, “Ok you passed”

I guess back then the shedding was not indicative of how well you did.

I think I have seen this guy at our DMV.

Hey, Mike just got dumped twice in one day!

Lynn’s Comments:

This is what happened to me when I took my driving exam at the age of 16. The examiner was menacing and brutally strict…and I failed the test!

Body shaming. Tsk tsk…

Now would be a good time to wake up and pay attention, not to mention behave…. Mike..

My test was like this. The guy was in a bad mood and made me really nervous. I made one really bad mistake (really bad) and he had me go back to the office and he marked it FAIL and got out and left. I worked with my Dad for the rest of the day on what I messed up on and went back the next day. The next tester was a real nice Grandma type lady and we had a great time and I scored a 100.

I was rear ended on my way to my test. My instructor had to explain what happened to the tester. I couldn’t believe I PASSED!

When I was 16 the passenger door latch on our car would stick. I had to help the tester get out. But somehow I still passed.

It’s been a long time since I took my driving test. But as I recall the examiners were uniformed State Police.

Mike is toast

It’s the examiner’s job to be intimidating & distracting.

At one notorious Sec. of State testing centres (Elston Avenue in Chicago,) there was one tester who was given to yell “STOP!” when they were out in traffic to see how the subject would react. Very very few folks passed their first test at Elston.

(Occasionally it was alleged that there were examiners there who solicited bribes… but times are said to have changed.)

But of course in the US, it seems outrageously easy to get a drivers’ license, if what one witnesses on the road is any indication.

When I was stationed at Ft. Belvoir, Va. my civilian boss insisted I needed an Army driver’s license in order to be able to get a car or a van from the motor pool when we needed one.

I went over and took the written exam and then had to take the road tests. I expected there would be a car that I’d drive to be tested on. Instead, I had to go through the course – including reverse parking and parallel parking – driving a series of vehicles that got exponentially larger as the day went on until finally, the examiner said I’d have to wait until the following day to test on the 5th-wheelers and semis.

That’s when the penny dropped and I realized that they’d made a rather large mistake. I explained to the examiner that I was only there for a motor vehicle (car) license.

The examiner laughed his head off.

I wound up being the only guy in my unit who was certified to operate anything from staff cars to dump trucks.

As a new trooper assigned to an area, no one knew me. The state had received many complaints about a particular examiner. I was sent to investigate, by taking the driver’s license test. She was abusive and abrasive. Someone actually needing to pass the driving portion could have easily been made so nervous they would fail. She was fired.

I really lucked out and passed on the first try despite failing to check for traffic from the right at an unmarked intersection. The examiner asked whether I had checked, and I sheepishly admitted that I had not. I got admonished, and I pledged to do so at every intersection in the future. So I passed, and with my new found license took the neighborhood kids to the Iowa State Fair, 3 inside the car, and my younger brother in the trunk. At some point later they realized the design weakness, and now charge for parking as you drive in, then pay for individual admission after you’ve found a parking spot. As a result, I will have no reason to put my 71 year old brother in the trunk the next time we go to the fair.

Reminds me of the guy I got for my driver’s test.

As if Mike didn’t have enough trouble concentrating on the matter at hand…

When I moved from Illinois to California I went to get my driver’s license and had to take both the written and driving tests. Examiner was quite nice and I passed. (My boyfriend taught me how to drive when I was 18 – much angst if I remember)

Took 4 tries to pass the drivers test, I flunked twice on the parallel parking, I didn’t really understand why I flunked the third time.

That man looks like testing driving candidates is standing in the way of sitting back and waiting for his pension.

I remember learning to parallel parking in Driver’s Ed. (On first attempt, I flattened one of the tires!) I don’t remember having to parallel park for my driver’s test. But I took it in a small town rather than in the city. (I lived in a rural area in between the two).

Dark ages in Texas we could test at 14 (!) after driver’s ed. Most of us could barely see over the steering wheel. Driver’s ed taught by the ass’t football coach, naturally.

It’s not called the Department of Motor Vehicles in Canada, it’s called the Ministry of Transportation. Either Johnston was catering to the mainly US reader demographic despite the strip being set in Ontario or her editors were.