How many tries did it take to get your license?

"ViperGuy21" (viperguy21)
07/02/2014 at 14:29 • Filed to: None

I just got my license today for my 16th birthday, and I'm happy to report, it only took the one try! The test seemed really easy, and makes me wonder who fails the test, and how many times?

DISCUSSION (74)

AM3R > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:32

1 because I live in America

Forgetful > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:33

I failed once for missing a playground zone (the sign was partially obstructed). Passed the second time with just two demerits for starting and stopping a little too quickly, which I think was a 'no one is perfect' deduction.

Passed my commercial (class 3) test the first time.

505Turbeaux > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:34

one, actually I didnt even drive before I passed. Checked all around and under the car, and put my blinker on to back out of a parking space. Inspector told me he had never seen anyone even do that. Said I passed but just drive around to make it look good. He told me to take a right, I made a left because I was shook thinking he was lying. He was true to his word

Cé hé sin > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:34

Is it possible to fail an American driving test without being a complete moron?

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > Forgetful
07/02/2014 at 14:35

My driving instructor takes me through an are with alot of unmarked dips, when I take my license test I'll have to be hyper alert

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:35

Once for my license and 2 times for my permit.

duurtlang > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:35

2. But I don't live in the US. The first time I somehow missed a cyclist on a roundabout, so I justifiably failed. I nailed the hill start (with a manual, obviously) and the parallel parking though.

PatBateman > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:37

Back in the day, we didn't even take a driving test. I went to driver's ed school, passed that with flying colors, then went to DPS and took the written test. Passed.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:37

OKAY. 2. Yes, two times.

The first time I was ready, I even helped other friends practice for their tests. So, I get there and I really wanted an old white guy. NOPE. Got a short fat black lady named Mimi and she didn't seem too pleasant. As I made it though the course I came to the three point turn and my mirror hit the cone by a 1/2". I say it coming and didn't even think it was a big deal. Well, she immediately said we couldn't continue. So, asked if I failed. She said no. I said, but it's over, I failed. She said, we don't like to call it that. Then I had to let her drive through the course back to the start. Like I couldn't drive down a path. So, she goes through all the bullshit stopping and using a turn signal on a oneway path with turns. Took forever for no good reason.

The second time I got my wish, an old white guy. Passed with a perfect score.

Jonathan Harper > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:38

First time baby. Aced it.

JGrabowMSt > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:40

Nailed it first time. The turn signal had turned off while I was exiting the parallel parking spot (clock springs, what are you going to do?), and the nice lady told me just to make sure to turn it back on if that happens, but passed everything with flying colors.

My older two sisters each had to go back and try again, my twin sister failed parallel parking, but got her license first try.

404usernotfound > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:40

I passed my test first try, though I didn't get a perfect score, but its pass or fail anyway so that doesnt matter.

KirkyV > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:40

I passed on my second go, which is average for where I live; our first-time pass rate is 43%. As I recall, I failed on a missed mirror-check. My two manoeuvres were a parallel park, and a reverse-into-bay-park.

Jagvar > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:40

I failed on the first attempt because I couldn't master backing into a parking space (and yet I could parallel park just fine). Two weeks later, I passed.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:41

one try for me. I had already logged a substantial amount of time driving with my parents (for a few months I was their personal chauffeur). The test was a breeze but made it even more so because the two girls I was testing with were panic stricken but the highway or merging. Just helped make me look better.

ViperGuy21 > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2
07/02/2014 at 14:42

That sucks, I got deducted cause I didn't do a double stop at a stop sign. The ironic thing is, the only reason I didn't do one, is cause all my friends said that they count off for double stops and they just want you to pull up all the way. Pissed me off, cause otherwise I would've had a 100!

Sn210 > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:42

First try! Did a little hand signals, refused to drive over the flock of geese crossing the road even though the trooper was telling me to go, did a little backing up, then boom. Licensed.

Jagvar > Cé hé sin
07/02/2014 at 14:43

Only about 1 in 3 pass on the first attempt in the U.S., so I'd say yes.

ViperGuy21 > PatBateman
07/02/2014 at 14:44

Wow, you can't pass the ed class without passing like a million written tests, and then the one driving test at the DMV

ttyymmnn > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:44

One try, but the test was a joke. This was back in '82 in VA, and the DMV was out by the shopping mall. The test was one lap around the mall ring road. That's it. I did know one girl in my HS driver's ed class who failed the on-the-road portion of the class. One time, she pulled out in front of a dump truck (with the instructor and two other students in the car), and another time she forgot to brake before turning onto to a side street. Thank god the instructor had his own brake.

Congrats on the license. Be safe.

spanfucker retire bitch > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:44

Twice. I was really pissed I failed the first time. Right on red is legal in this state, but the intersection the instructor took me to had a sign that said don't turn on red. Well, sadly, I didn't see it. It was three signs high (as in, there were two other signs below it) and because I was pulled up exactly to line, when I leaned over to the passenger window to see if there was anything there to preclude me from turning, I couldn't see it.

I even asked her if she could tell me if there were any other signs on that post besides the two that I saw. She said it wasn't her job to tell me that.

ViperGuy21 > ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier
07/02/2014 at 14:44

You had to take a driving test for a permit? All I had to do is a written test.

ttyymmnn > Jagvar
07/02/2014 at 14:45

Parking as part of the exam? Wow. All I had to do was take one lap around the mall ring road and stop in the middle of the DMV parking lot. It was laughable.

ViperGuy21 > Cé hé sin
07/02/2014 at 14:45

Supposedly, but it would be kinda difficult...at least to me

ViperGuy21 > ttyymmnn
07/02/2014 at 14:47

Thanks! I will

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:48

The permit is 25 questions, get 20 right you pass. That counts as your written test for your license.

Cé hé sin > Jagvar
07/02/2014 at 14:49

Are you sure it's only 1 in 3? My sister used to live in Canada (yes, different country but I doubt it's much different) and she had to do a test there. Drive down road, turn around, drive back. Done.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:49

One

Jagvar > ttyymmnn
07/02/2014 at 14:49

Wow. It's changed a lot since then. I took the test in 2000 in Connecticut.

ttyymmnn > Jagvar
07/02/2014 at 14:50

I took it in 1982 in VA.

KirkyV > Jagvar
07/02/2014 at 14:50

I was exactly the opposite back when I was a learner; I had bay-parking down within my first couple of tries, but I was struggling with parallel parking right up to my test.

ViperGuy21 > ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier
07/02/2014 at 14:51

Oh, ok. We had like 3-4 written tests a week when I was in the class

Cé hé sin > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:51

What on earth is a "double stop at a stop sign"?

djmt1 > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:52

1 because my driver instructor was a sadist and thought Central London is the ideal place to learn how to drive. That said it worked as I only got two minors which I contest to this day weren't my fault considering there was a crash in front of me and I believe that demanded the more attention than where my left foot was (I stalled on a roundabout).

tromoly > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:52

I had two tests in the class, one written test for the permit, and only a driving test for the license. That's not a lot of tests.

Jagvar > Cé hé sin
07/02/2014 at 14:52

Sounds like a pretty different test. In the U.S. currently (I don't know what it used to be in previous years), you generally have to parallel park, perform both front-end and back-end parking, execute a 3-point turn, and perform a combination of on-road and closed-course driving.

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:53

The only "real" tests are the permit (written) and the practical (driving with someone who holds your future in their hands).

ViperGuy21 > Cé hé sin
07/02/2014 at 14:54

Stop with front even with stop sign, and inch forward if there is something obstructing your view i.e. tree/bush/other vehicle

Vicente Esteve > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:55

I also went on my 16th birthday! What a day it was, haha in Mexico you just have to pay the price to get it and off you go.

RazoE > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:56

1st try. Been driving like a boss ever since.

ViperGuy21 > ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier
07/02/2014 at 14:56

Where do you live? I'm just south of DFW, and if you failed any tests, you had to keep retaking until you passed. I never failed any by the way

Cé hé sin > Jagvar
07/02/2014 at 14:57

Well, it was in Goose Bay, Nfld, which is in the middle of absolutely nowhere so I guess that standards differ there.

I recall that reversing around a bend was a big thing when I was being tested. That, and hill starts.

Cé hé sin > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 14:59

Can't remember that being specifically mentioned in my day. Mind you I didn't pass first time. These facts may or may not be related.

ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:00

Connecticut, USA. the testing here changed when had just gotten my license. So I was grandfathered into the old way.

McMike > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:00

Once

Kinja'd!!!

ViperGuy21 > ShelbyRacer78-Fusion Modifier
07/02/2014 at 15:02

Oh, ok

EL_ULY > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:02

1 on my birthday

PatBateman > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:05

I had about 20 hours of graded driving time in Driver's Ed. Probably about 4 or 5 tests during class as well.

kinjasignedmeout > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:15

Weird, my brother just got his today too, and there was something about it on the show Kelly and Michael

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:19

Technically two. I failed the first one because they wouldn't allow me to take the test in the vehicle I brought. Even though my sister took the test in that same exact vehicle two years earlier (84 Grand Prix). They're reasoning was they couldn't reach the brake pedal. (no shit, it's not a driver's ed car)

So I made certain that I could take it in my mother's Grand Caravan and was assured I could. Fast forward a couple of days and they same fat troll who denied the Grand Prix said she couldn't reach the pedals of the Grand Caravan. I wasn't having any of that shit so I pitched a fit and the supervisor of the inspection station/drivers testing station gave me the test. I got my license on April Fools day. There's a joke somewhere in there about my driving.

Textured Soy Protein > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:22

It took me 2 tries.

The first time I went, I had this super hardass lady cop tester. The DMV had a test course across the street from the regular DMV parking lot. So I started the test, and made it all the way to the stop sign to exit the DMV parking lot when this lady hardassedly says "PUT THE CAR IN PARK AND TURN IT OFF." I'm like "uhhh we haven't even gotten to the test course yet," but apparently because I stopped at the sign where a couple inches of the front of my car was hanging over the line at the stop sign, she decided to fail me. Didn't dock me a point, just said the test is over. Which, I mean, come on, really?

So the next day I went back, got some other different tester dude who was super nice. Like to the point where when it got to parallel parking, he offered to GET OUT OF THE CAR AND GUIDE ME INTO THE SPACE. I told him thanks but I think I've got this, and of course with this dude I obviously passed the test.

All of this made no sense to me at all. Why not have some more consistent standards across testers?

CalzoneGolem > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:22

It took me 6 tries. The first 5 times were with the same tester. Then the sixth time I had a different tester and I passed no problem. I think that guy didn't like me.

Luc - The Acadian Oppo > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:33

Kinja'd!!!

camaroboy68ss > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 15:42

First try 100% both written and driving.

I had a buddy in high school though fail his permit test 15 times

Bad Idea Hat > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 16:13

Once, 100% on both written and driving.

I had to drive up and down the main road of town one time, and then I should have had to do what's called the "maneuverability test." I didn't though. Passed me just on the fact that I had the ability to cruise town. It's probably the reason cruising the main drag of that town is such a stupidly popular thing to do on Saturday night there, because that's all anyone knows how to do.

I'll second the idea that there needs to be standards in testing. One of my friends' test took 30 minutes, and was an escalating series of challenges that only ended when he made a mistake and was failed. He was sure that, if he could keep from making mistakes, the test would have gone on forever. He had a cop out in his redneck-ass town doing the test, so there's that. A few other stories I heard were of the same type as the "minor mistake=failed" variety.

trynthink > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 17:04

Two tries. First time I failed parallel parking (something I'm decent at now) when the instructor selected a space barely big enough for the car and told me I would automatically fail if I didn't attempt parking in that space.

Spoon II > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 17:07

Passed the tests for both cars and motorcycles on the first tries. It was pretty easygoing, the instructor for the car test even took a little nap while I was driving around town. Congrats on the license, you're freeeeeeeee!

The Compromiser > Cé hé sin
07/02/2014 at 17:10

Ontario test was more. Parking, change lanes, turns. I think they get a minumum requirement and anything else is to be a dick.

The Compromiser > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 17:20

I took a driving test 3 times and passed every one first time.

First was for my G license. General car type. Auditor was retiring the second I was done (not kidding). So he let me away with a fail on parallel park that pushed me over.

Then for M. Motorcycle. Unobserved test.

Last was BZ. School bus and coach, emergency vehicle or 5 ton with air brakes. Auditor knew my dad. Talked about him the whole time. Also dodged a police standoff on small side streets in the winter during a blizzard.

My sister had to do graduated and failed the driving portion 3 times. The first was because she wasn't from there. The second was because they were dicks. Third was because she was freaked out to fail from the previous times and psyched herself out.

Dingers Ghost, Champion Jockey > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 17:41

I'll admit, 3 tries. The first time the curb jumped out in front of me parallel parking. Not sure what his problem was. Suicidal maniac. The second time, I bumped the curb and failed. The third time I passed.

Jordaneer, The Mountaineer Man > ttyymmnn
07/02/2014 at 19:41

the local dmv in my county is in a shopping mall. Granted, no one goes shopping there other than to get groceries.

Clown Shoe Pilot > PatBateman
07/02/2014 at 21:01

That means you're probably about the same age as my younger (by 4 years) sister. When I got my license, I had to go to the DPS office and take a driving test w/ a state trooper riding in the passenger seat. I think our younger (by 7 years from me) brother had to do his DL test w/ a state trooper too.

PatBateman > Clown Shoe Pilot
07/02/2014 at 21:43

I'm 37.

Clown Shoe Pilot > PatBateman
07/02/2014 at 21:44

my sister will be 37 later this year.

PatBateman > Clown Shoe Pilot
07/02/2014 at 21:45

Cool.

Is she cute?

...

J/k

Clown Shoe Pilot > PatBateman
07/02/2014 at 21:50

I asked my wife. My sister is cute.

I did not use the opportunity to tell my wife that her sister (38) is hot.

PatBateman > Clown Shoe Pilot
07/02/2014 at 22:21

Good call. Many things are best left thought but not said. That is definitely one of them.

I was unaware that there was such a small window to test without getting behind the wheel.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ViperGuy21
07/02/2014 at 23:09

Once. The DMV tester came to the driving school I was at. It was a joke. It was maybe 10 minutes max, going on a couple suburban streets and a few empty mid day boulevards.

I kinda messed up the back in parking. I had practiced for hours in my mom's minvan. Take the test going fine, then have to back up. line it up start getting ready swing the wheel, 1/3 of the way in next spot. "Let me guess, minivan?"

"Yeah venture"

So he has me redo it, drive back, have to parallel park. No problem. I got some points knocked off for the back up, but fine everything else.

The day I took it about a 10% of the people failed the written and maybe another 15% failed the driving. Talking to my friends, no one else had to parallel park.

A few kids in school failed and I had a cousin that failed 3 times.

ViperGuy21 > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
07/03/2014 at 00:32

I didn't have to back in to a spot. Just back up straight until she said stop, then parallel park, then about 7-8mins of driving on little roads w/stop signs.

bob and john > Cé hé sin
07/03/2014 at 15:21

its changed since then (thgouht not by much.
drive down roads. change lanes 3 or 4 times. parallel park. 3 point turn. Couple of turns. bay parking. done.

bob and john > duurtlang
07/03/2014 at 15:23

so you managed to run him over the second time ? :P

bob and john > The Compromiser
07/03/2014 at 15:24

ok, this tells me ur in ontario, how the the motorcycle test work if it not from a course? I didnt take mine from the DMV.....

duurtlang > bob and john
07/03/2014 at 17:10

I didn't get that far. I managed to take out an entire Hare Krishna procession, which caused me to pass automatically.

Kinja'd!!!

The Compromiser > bob and john
07/03/2014 at 19:42

You do a weave run then a hard stop in the lot. They send you on a road circuit and if you get back too fast you fail for speeding. They tell you they have monitors on 4he route but no one has ever seen one.