First of all, I think it is absolutely ignorant to send out the driver renewal notice with the road rules handbook and the test. You fill out the test, bring it in and get your license. Now, you'd have to be completely ignorant to fail a test when they give the book to use while taking it. Well, at least under normal circumstances.
Several of the questions are kind of like trick questions. I pity those for whom English is a second language.
Under normal conditions, a safe following distance between your car and a motorcycle should be:
A. The same distance as when following another car B. Less distance than when following another car C. More distance than when following another car
The book says "Bad weather and slippery surfaces cause greater problems for motorcycles than for cars. Allow more following distance for motorcyclists when the road surface is wet and slippery."
A is the correct answer, but it's kinda sneaky on their part.
However, this is the question that really chaps my hide.
When approaching an emergency vehicle from the rear that is displaying flashing warning lights on a highway with more than one lane in each direction you must:
A. Maintain lane position and speed B. Speed up to pass the emergency vehicle quickly C. Move to a lane not adjacent to the emergency vehicle and pass with caution
The book says, "When approaching a stationary emergency vehicle from the rear that is using flashing warning lights on a street or highway with two or more lanes in each direction, a driver shall proceed with due caution and move to a lane that is not adjacent to the stopped emergency vehicle."
Are we supposed to guess as to whether the emergency vehicle is stopped/stationary? Why would anyone be approaching an emergency vehicle from the rear on a highway? Shouldn't they be hauling ass to the emergency? So, why would anyone be approaching them? I would think, if anything, a car might catch a glimpse of them. Maybe be passed by them. But would you really expect for the emergency vehicle to be going so slowly as to have cars from the rear approaching it? And if they wanted the answer for the stationary/stopped emergency vehicle, why didn't they say so?
I'm not taking the test. It's my husband. But a couple of years ago, when I did mine, I had the same problem with one of the questions then. The people at the DMV didn't seem to care one way or another that the question was imprecise. I got it right, but I was still a bit ticked.
It's like the SATs where you have to choose the most correct (or least wrong) answer. I don't think that the driving test should be like that. I think they should ask specific questions that have specific answers. People need to know the rules of the road. Not figure out logic puzzles or be tested on their grasp of language skills. People suck at driving enough already. Why are we trying to confuse them more?
Oh, and if you have to take a test and get a picture taken to get a license, this should all be one price. They are wacky enough here to actually separate the costs. The license itself is only $18. However, the exam fee is $3 and the picture fee is $4, for a grand total of $25. Bull. The Driver's License renewal fee is $25. What if I want to renew my driver's license, but don't want to take the test or picture? Yeah, I didn't think they'd let me do that. Hell, the eye exam is free at least.
Oh, and it's not like if I lose my license they only charge me the $18 dollar fee for a replacement (which would make sense.) No, they charge an $8 replacement fee and a $2 photo fee. Good grief these people are annoying. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Why would anyone be approaching an emergency vehicle from the rear on a highway? Shouldn't they be hauling ass to the emergency? So, why would anyone be approaching them? I would think, if anything, a car might catch a glimpse of them. Maybe be passed by them. But would you really expect for the emergency vehicle to be going so slowly as to have cars from the rear approaching it?
Surely where you live it's not impossible for there to be an emergency on a highway? As a person who spends at least two to three hours every day on Southern California freeways, I can assure you that there is ample reason for an emergency vehicle to be stopped on the side of the road.
Posts: 4534 | Registered: Jan 2003
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quote: Under normal conditions, a safe following distance between your car and a motorcycle should be:
A. The same distance as when following another car B. Less distance than when following another car C. More distance than when following another car
The book says "Bad weather and slippery surfaces cause greater problems for motorcycles than for cars. Allow more following distance for motorcyclists when the road surface is wet and slippery."
A is the correct answer, but it's kinda sneaky on their part.
What bugs me is that C is also a correct answer. They ask what a safe following distance is, NOT what the MINIMUM safe following distance is. If the same amount is good (safe), then more is better (safer).
So if you’re a cautious driver and generally give motorcycles more space you get penalized... sure, why not. Posts: 409 | Registered: Apr 2002
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quote: Surely where you live it's not impossible for there to be an emergency on a highway? As a person who spends at least two to three hours every day on Southern California freeways, I can assure you that there is ample reason for an emergency vehicle to be stopped on the side of the road.
I think that's Kayla's point... an emergency vehicle stopped at the side of the road would be a stationary emergency vehicle. The question doesn't indicate if the vehicle is stopped or not, you're just supposed to figure it out. The question is ambiguous.
Posts: 409 | Registered: Apr 2002
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I have answers to a couple of the points you raise, but there are others that clearly need to get into the hands of the folks responsible for editing the manual and the questions. That's NOT the drones at the licensing/test center. They really couldn't care less.
So, here's a couple of things I do know:
1) Most states don't mail out the test and the manual. Those that do, are assuming (and hoping) you'll go look up the answers. That's a good thing. That means that you actually openned the manual and read at least part of it. Counts as a major success in some circles.
2) The people who formulate the questions and write the manual really do agonize over this stuff. The fact that there are still mistakes and imprecision is due to the sheer amount of work that's involved in putting a manual together in the first place, let alone certifying a test. You might think that that level of effort would ensure accuracy and precision. It doesn't. Rather, it insures that there are too many cooks. It also guarantees a large amount of resistance to making any changes, especially to the manual.
Tests are a somewhat different matter. They test from a bank of questions and are, generally, willing to drop or edit questions that are known to cause problems. Like you, I found myself trying to imagine the scenario with that emergency vehicle. It's easy to guess the right answer (the most conservative one that doesn't cause an even more serious safety problem). But still...they should've at least pointed out that the ambulance (or what have you) was stopped.
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Bob, it's Kansas. I was floored the first time I found out they sent out the test and the book together. What was even worse, knowing that my mother-in-law's aunt was having someone else fill it out, so she could get her license renewed. At 90! And to think how I worried about passing the written exam in Missouri as a teenager! But, you have a point. I guess people do open the book to find the right answer. It's just that they are looking only for those answers. See, when we didn't get the test with the book, but had to go to the DMV and get the test and not cheat while taking it, we had to read the whole book. And know everything in it, because you never knew what questions they would ask. Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
In Kansas (where I also live) you HAVE to move to the other lane when approaching an emergency vehicle that has lights on (like a trooper that has a car stopped on the shoulder.) This is a fairly recent law called the Goodheart Law, named after Trooper Dean Goodheart, who was killed by someone who DIDN'T move over and sheared his body off the highway
Farmgirl daughter of another trooper and webmaster of KSCOPS
posted
You need to fix that link. There is a )/ at the end of it.
However, that is for stopped/stationary emergency vehicles. The test didn't say it was a stopped/stationary vehicle. I would assume that emergency vehicles also travel on highways, so, if it is moving, what is the correct answer? That's my question.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Good question - I'm going to the Kansas Highway Patrol site (or the state site) and see if I can find the full text of the bill that created the Goodheart Law and clarify it.
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Kayla, me too on your original complaint. When I moved back to Washington after living in Colorado for a year, I had to take the written test again. I didn't pass the first time because I missed all the questions about drinking and driving. They were all questions about how much you could drink and still legally drive. Now, I don't drink *at all*, so this is not even a problem for me. I thought that not passing the test simply because you don't know how much you can get away with drinking was pretty stupid.
The test here isn't open book. And you have to take it at the DMV. I went home with it, studied for an hour or so, then went back and passed. It was sure irritating, though.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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And it is definately saying this applies for stopped emergency vehicles.
So you are right that the question is not clear as to whether the vehicle mentioned in the question is stopped or moving. Perhaps we should bring this to the attention of the DMV. I think they are wanting you to say you have to move over (because they are trying to make everyone aware of the new law, which was adopted in 2000)
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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He tells me that the "correct" answer to the emergency vehicle question is C. He tells me how he asked why and got the answer about Goodheart's law. He explained that about it not being stationary and all. The woman looks at hims and says, "Oh yeah. Somebody should do something about that." (You mean, somebody like you?)
Then, I ask him how many qestions he got wrong. He says none! I said, yeah, but you just said that you got that one question wrong. He says, oh, no, I asked about that question during the eye exam. She didn't even grade the test, she just stuck it in a drawer.
Of course, the woman in line ahead of him actually had her test graded and failed! (how do you fail a test when they send it to you 6 weeks in advance along with an answer booklet?!?) She asked if she could retake the test and they said she could, but she had to take a handbook and study it for an hour before she retested. The woman then farted!!
God, and people wonder why I don't leave the house.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I just had to renew my California driver's licence last month. What a hassle. I didn't have to take a test, but I had to present myself for a vision test, thumbprint, and photo. When I got the renewal information in the mail, it gave the impression that I was required to make an appointment. However, they gave no way contact them. I tried looking up my local DMV office in the phone book. No listing. I tried looking them up on the internet. No listing. Finally, I had to go to the general state DMV site to find the toll-free number in order to make an appointment - apparently one is not allowed to call a local office any more.
Well, I made the appointment. It is an automated system, and I had to go through at least ten menus before I got to the point I could actually make an appointment. (I hate automated phone systems; I want to talk to a real person when I make a phone call.) However, something came up and I couldn't make it to the appointment. Then, I had to go out of town for a few days, and by the time I got back it was only a couple of days before my birthday, so there was no time to get another appointment (appointments are inevitably about two weeks out from when you call for them).
So, I went down about one-thirty in the afternoon, on a Thursday, expecting a line out the door, as one of the myths perpetuated by the DMV is that if you don't have an appointment, you'll have to stand in line for at least a couple of hours to get any kind of service. Right. I had to wait maybe fifteen minutes, and was out in twenty to twenty-five minutes. No muss, no fuss. Next time I'll know not to even bother with the whole appointment thing.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
DMV...ugh. It was a nightmare when I first moved up here, the DMV by my in-laws is horribly congested, even at opening. What I know now, being a savvy Buffalonian, is there's an office about 20 minutes away where you almost never have to wait. Did everything else I needed to at that one, definitely worth the trip to save my sanity.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Wow! You have to give them a THUMBPRINT in California? Thank goodness that Kansas isn't quite that "big brother" just yet!
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Kansas has a little of "Wyoming" spirit (I like to call it) when it comes to certain rights and freedoms. One is the right to drive until your too old to have a friend answer the questions for you.
Posts: 440 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
One more complaint - NY State driver's licenses are PINK. What's up with that?? I suppose that is a good reason not to get pulled over out of state, so the trooper doesn't get the chance to laugh at you.
Posts: 5422 | Registered: Dec 2001
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If you get your license in Arizona, it doesn't expire until you turn 65.
That means that if I don't bother to get a new license, it will say "Under 21" for the next 43 years.
Try buying something in another state with one of those bad boys. Everyone looks at you like you're stupid to have put 2046 as the expiration date on your obviously fake license.
posted
What, nobody comments about the redneck farting in the DMV? Is that just expected of someone from Kansas?
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I always loved how AZ gave you the option to use your SSN on your license until a few years ago ("gee, I lost my license, and probably my identity now.").
Kayla, I wouldn't complain too much about prices for driver's licenses. Last time I checked, it cost somewhere around $1,000 (US) after training and license fees in Germany.
Oh, you have to be 18, and they won't give you a license for just showing up (which is about how hard it is to get a license here).
Posts: 851 | Registered: Oct 2001
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posted
Slacker, I didn't explain it well. It's not the cost of the fee that bugs me. It's the way they separate it all out. Like you could get a license without taking the exam or the picture. Or, you could take the exam and the picture, but not get a license. It's stupid. It costs $25 to get a license. It doesn't cost $18, $4 and $3.
If it did, the yahoo who failed the test would have had to pay $3.
Posts: 9871 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
Slacker -- yeah, this is why the two foreign exchange students we've had from Germany have always been so insistent about getting their drivers' license here while they are here. Because it is so expensive in Germany, and apparently if they get one here, they can use it there!
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
Okay, now I'm dying to know which school in Kansas it is that Screechowl (member 2651) is at, but e-mail to him(her?) is blocked.... (sigh)
Posts: 9538 | Registered: Aug 2003
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posted
At least in my state, the safe following distance is considered to be 2 seconds. I received this question on my permit test, and picked 3 seconds instead. While I realize that I was incorrect, does it not make sense to encourage this behavior?
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote: PSI - I bet you'll probably move sometime before you're 65....
I already moved once...guess I just can't stay away (vomit smilie). I don't really expect to have the same license that long. I just think it's weird that by the age of sixty-five, you could conceivably have lost a leg, an eye, and part of your brain capacity. But at least you'll be independent!
(Note: This is in no way meant to suggest that this is how 65-year-old's are. I'm just sayin'...a lot can happen in 43 years. )
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
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quote:Wow! You have to give them a THUMBPRINT in California? Thank goodness that Kansas isn't quite that "big brother" just yet!
Not only that. In some areas of the state, they're making drivers tell them their social security number as well. I don't like that at all.
But, Gray Davis just signed a law a few days ago allowing illegal aliens to get driver's licenses. Lots of pros and cons on that one.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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quote:Wow! You have to give them a THUMBPRINT in California? Thank goodness that Kansas isn't quite that "big brother" just yet!
Not only that. In some areas of the state, they're making drivers tell them their social security number as well. I don't like that at all.
But, Gray Davis just signed a law a few days ago allowing illegal aliens to get driver's licenses. Lots of pros and cons on that one.
Posts: 2454 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
jeni, I had the same problem when I took the DMV test for Washington. I don't drink so I skimmed over the section on alcohol. Then on taking the test I discovered I had to know the specific volume of a specific acohol and know what constituted one drink and what that drink would cause the blood acohol on an average size person would be. There were more questions on alcohol consumption than on how to operate a vehicle.
Posts: 349 | Registered: May 2003
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quote:I didn't have to take a test, but I had to present myself for a vision test, thumbprint, and photo.
You know, not to be an arrogant tourist again, but there were a lot of ways in which CA struck me as a police state when I was just there. This is another one.
I find this troubling.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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