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I’m going to driving school. I’ve got to go from 9:00am to 3:45pm for two weekends and I don’t think I’ve ever been quite so bored in my life.

My first day was yesterday, which was uber-boring, and seemed to last for ever. Probably because the content was really dry; about insurance and how the licensing system works etc. Today wasn’t as bad, but it’s still boring to cover one subject for almost 7 hours.

The instructor today thought I look like Harry Potter lol! He called me “Mr. Potter” and “HP” haha. I like him better then the instructor we had yesterday, who was pretty boring (on top of the boring content).

So after I finish the required classroom hours, I get to actually go out and drive with the instructor. And then after that, I can go for my G1-Exit drivers test. I don’t know how it’s done around the rest of the world, but here we use a “graduated licensing” system. That means there are three different levels of licensing:

• G1: The lowest level with lots of restrictions (have to drive with someone who has their G for >= 4 years, cannot carry any other passengers, no driving at night, no freeways, no blood alcohol content…). This gives us just enough room to practise with our parents, for example. You get this by writing a written test.
• G2: The second level has none of the restrictions except for the no BAC and you can only carry as many passengers as there are seat belts. To get this, you have to wait 12 months (or 8 months if you go to driving school) after you got the G1, then you have to go out and take the G1-exit drivers test.
• G: The final level, the “full” license with no restrictions. You get this after 12 months with your G2 and another, longer drivers test (called the G2-exit).

So for anyone to get their full G license, it’ll take them at least 18 months from the time they got their G1. Probably more since the drivers tests are usually back-logged.

So I’m going to driving school to reduce the time needed to get my G2 and to reduce the insurance (insurance goes down by a max of 45% if you go to driving school). Those saved 4 months and money savings are worth my boredom I think! I hope I pass my G1-exit test, the instructor told us only about 55% pass it, and only about 22% pass the G2-exit test. If you don’t pass the first time, you can take it again but that costs money and you’ll probably have to wait weeks for another appointment.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2005 at 5:22 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.