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May 21, 2003
Drivers Wanted
Today I got my Washington State driver's license. I took the written test last week, and driving test this morning. I didn't blog about it earlier to avoid the shame if I failed.
The written test wasn't difficult. The hardest part was trying to remember all the unposted speeds in miles per hour and distances in feet. I only got one question wrong, but in my opinion, this is one law that should be changed. Let's see how you do.
If you are involved in a collision in which there is a death, injury, and/or over $700 in property damage, how long do you have to file a report with state police?
- 48 hours
- 4 days
- 1 week
- 1 month
If you answered "a", like I did, you'd be wrong. The correct answer is "b". Apparently in Washington State, if you kill someone with your car, there's no need to cancel your weekend plans. Take off and have fun. And when you get back, then consider turning yourself in.
The driving test went fine. I screwed up my parallel park, which didn't come as much of a surprise since I hadn't parallel parked since my first driver's test 9 years ago. They issued me a temporary license and invalidated my Ontario one (it's against the law to possess more than one valid license).
Since I don't own a car, I had to rent one for the test. I also had to provide proof of insurance on the car (which luckily, was supplied with the car rental). This got me thinking:
- You can't take the driver's test without insurance.
- You can't get car insurance without a car.
- You can't rent a car without a driver's license.
- You can't get a license without taking the test.
Lucky for me everything worked out because I have an out-of-state license, but I wonder how people without cars (and aren't driving their parents') run into this situation.