After studying the 254 page driving manual, I sat for the theory part of the license exam. There were thirty multiple-choice questions and you cannot miss more than 10% and pass the test. Most first time takers do not do so. I consider myself fortunate in only missing 2 questions. So I passed. I had a number of moped and motorcycle questions of which I was not certain of the answers. So I might have missed a few of those.
To pass the driving portion of the test, you must practice on a car from your driving school and use it for the evaluation. None of the driving schools within a 50 mile radius of here, have automatic cars. They are not considered macho enough for Spaniards. As you know, our Hyundai is automatic. So last Monday, I rented a bottom of the line 5-speed shift car to practice with for a few days. Cliff, who is an excellent driver in both shift and automatic cars and those with right hand or left hand drive, drove the rental to a semi-deserted warehouse area for me to practice. First, I just shifted the gears with the clutch without the engine on. Soon I started to drive it and to our amazement, actually drove it reasonably well. I did not stall it or do any herky-jerky movements. I was so confident that I drove it back towards home including on the expressway. I did pull over to where we had left our car so that Cliff could drive the rental up the hill and the winding one-lane roads to our house. The next morning I drove the shift car by myself up and down the hills and to the center of a nearby town. Again, I drove it home without incident. Hopefully, this practice will stand me in good stead when I take the driving lessons at the auto school and on the exam.
This Sunday we are having an open house and invited friends and acquaintances to join us.
Stuart went through as much to pass the theory test as he did for his Doctorate! There was an INCREDIBLE amount of stuff to learn to pass the test. Now he is onto the next phase and I am really proud of him :)
ReplyDeleteThank you sweetheart. I appreciated your encouragement and support.
ReplyDeleteGood job Stuart....I am still amazed with the attitude toward automatic cars in europe.....They are supposed to be better than us but driving a standard is just slumming it...LOL....I have been driving a standard since I was sixteen and when I went to do my driving test the instructor saw I was american and was very smug and thought I could not drive a standard...He told me to pull out and get it up to about 30mph and do an emergency stop....You should have seen his face when I slamed on the brakes and put him into the windshield without stalling the car....LOL...I loved it....Good luck with the rest of the test....I think if you have been driving for forty or so years you should not have to take the road test...It is stupid and a waste of time and money.....
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