Yesterday, I went to apply for a Michigan Driver’s License. I was quite excited about it because only 3 years ago, I was in progress of getting the Czech Driver’s License, so I was wondering about the difference.
I went to the Secretary of State offices in Holland, a place where people apply for driver’s license and other vehicle related things like a license plate. I showed them my paperwork, I got in the line and in 10-15 min they called me.
Next, I received a written test. It has 40 + 10 questions. First section of 40 questions were based on actual driving and problem solving. The second section of 10 questions were about the traffic signs. It took me about 20 minutes to finish it. The requirement is at least 30 out of 40 correct in the first section and 8 out of 10 correct for the second section. Even I just came to the office and did not really prepare for it, I pass it right for the first time, so this or next week I will be going to driving test. But I was really surprised about the question. Except 5 questions from the first section, which were asking about certain number and rule, rest of it was common sense. I do not want write specifically the questions, but here is an example of what kind of things the questions were targeting. What would I do if I am driving and my phone rings? Or what will I do if someone will ask me to change the radio station while I am driving in a busy traffic?
I thought it was super easy. In Czech Republic we have to learn a lot of rules. Rules that we have to memorize because they are very specifically written in order to prevent confusion and potential crashes on the roads. In Czech people get only 25 questions but there are over 800 different questions that people can be asked from. All questions are based from a handbook for drivers with all the rules and solutions for solving the intersections Questions that I got yesterday, were just common sense. I thought it was very interesting to see the difference in how written driving tests differs by country.