Well on a lighter note (well not at the time, but upon reflection), I have something kind of funny to share about my experience at the theory test yesterday. After coming out of the test and waiting about 15 minutes for the results, we were handed back our application forms with a sheet which summarised our "results" (see picture). There was no explanation, no congratulations you have passed or sorry you have failed, no instructions on what you should do next, nothing, just simply the forms were handed back by the same grim faced police officer who conducted the test. I quickly looked down the page to find the "6" fails - SHIT!!! Looking around the room I could see that I was by no means the only one who had failed, but even those who had passed only seemed to have just passed with 5 wrong pictures (at least I didn't see anyone with less than 5 wrong). One thing we all had wrong in common was pictures 1 and 2, despite people saying they had answered it differently. Picture one was about overtaking on a country road and it didn't seem to mater whether people had answered yes or no to overtaking, we all got the picture wrong, so obviously some of the other questions pertaining to the picture were tricky! Apart from the "report sheet" being too brief and in Danish, it is seriously hard to remember the 25 pictures and what the questions to each were, so the report card was pretty useless as far as I was concerned! When I approached the grim faced police officer (well at least I presume he was a police officer, he was not in uniform) and asked if I could go through the incorrect questions with him or someone else, I was abruptly told that I should do that with my driving school instructor! I complained that this was not possible, as the sheet he had given me did not have sufficient information for that,
and I was again abruptly dismissed, at which point my anger overflowed and I let 6 months of frustration fly! I said (or something very close to this ) "I have been driving 25 years in Australia with a good driving record and I am now forced to go through this crap.... this is total crap" and maybe there were a few more rantings as I went out the door ........ So I am not sure I would recommend an outburst like this, but certainly you should let them know this is an unfair test and system and that YOU object to it! By the look on my other theory test victims faces I think I said exactly what they were all wanting to say but maybe did not have the courage to! I think I understand why the police officer was so grim faced now, its probably not the first or last time he will get an angry outburst like that, which for me is just another indication, like the 30% pass rate, that something is seriously wrong here!
Personally, I think it makes sense for ALL foreigners going to live in any country to take a theory test. Road signs are different usually, for a start, and there are probably different give-way laws etc. But it should be a different test to brand new drivers and just to ensure new arrivals know what signs mean and rules are. For instance, if you arrive one day, get your licence swapped over the next, you don't even know what the red outlined circle means with Gågade written on it. It should be straight forward and available in at least the languages of each foreign mission.
ReplyDeleteHi Guys, I understand the frustration, as far as I am in the same condition now :), trying to change my US driving license to Danish one.
ReplyDeleteI have some points to make and would like to share them with you.
-Point1: Someone, who changes his/her driving license in Denmark, gets a temporary driving license for 3 months and it is required to pass theory and practice tests. If the Danish government issues me a 3 months driving license (even temporary allowing me to drive in Denmark by myself), then the Danish government accepts the fact that I know the rules and know how to drive in Denmark. So, why should I take any tests again if the Danish government accepts my capability of driving in Denmark?
-Point 2: English language level in theory tests/questions/answers are awful, you need to lower your English language proficiency to this level to try to GUESS what are the questions/answers about. The questions intentionally are designed to FAIL not to TEST the person’s knowledge on driving rules. This, in my explanation, is done to charge MONEY and anybody who will try to argue, the English language level of the text, with any representative form commune or police will get the famous Danish ‘wing’ answer “in Denmark this is a rule”.
-Point 3: I live and pay full taxes in Jutland, and 80% percent of Danish people in this region (right at the beginning of any matter) are negatively predetermined against the people with my look (I am a dark skin). Driving test should be carried out with the registered translator, who is going to charge significant money out of my pocket, and of course the translator is going to be a Danish (in 99% of cases), as well as the driving instructor. So, if the instructor intentionally fails me based on general ground without any proof (e.g. instructor didn’t feel that you are paying enough attention on the road, or instructor noticed a bicyclist 50 meters away and you didn’t wait for him/her to pass first, etc.), then I can not prove my right at any circumstances. As far as 2 people out of 3 in the car are ‘abominate’ me and will never speak for my support, plus they really don not want me to have a driving license, as much as I feel it.
What we should do? An answer in my case I found in my decision, when I really on information from Wikipedia about the Denmark and made a decision to take a contract and moved here. I wish I Googled ‘Internationals in Denmark’ before making my decision to come.