A reply from the Danish Ministry of Justice

I got a second letter from the Danish Ministry of Justice after my very frustrated second email I sent after failing the first theory test. As you can read in the attached letter, they just reiterated what they had told me before regarding the conversion of my Victorian licence to a Danish licence, however they did say they are working on a new digital theory test which will be available in English and other languages! This would hopefully be a vast improvement on the current system where you must pay for an interpreter, and in my two theory tests at least, his English skills left a lot to be desired! In addition they plan to extend the validity of foreign licences from 14 days to 3 months for new residents, which might be useful for some people, but for me (and many others I imagine) I wouldn't invest in buying a car unless I had a full Danish licence.

So at least the theory test might be better in terms of the translation!

What a difference!

I'm a new man! What a difference having a car has made to my life. No longer do I need to spend 3-4 hours a day traveling... this has been reduced to 1 hour! I've got a life again - I've got back into my fitness regime, can go shopping easily and conveniently where ever I like and I plan to start Danish lessons again. "Fantastisk"!

PASS - Finally I have obtained a Danish Drivers licence!

Oh thank god I passed my practical test yesterday! It all went fairly smoothly although of course I was a little nervous that I would do something wrong. There were a few little "trick" directions, like being asked to turn into a one way street and driving down a street that turned into a no entry/one way in the oncoming direction at the end of the street. At the end of the test the policeman said that I had passed the test and obviously know how to drive! He said that as with any test there are always some minor observations and he said that there were a couple of times when the lanes merged on regular streets that I did not turn my head to check for cars (honestly I'd be getting whip lash if I turned my head fully every time there were double lanes reducing to one in Copenhagen - if I have already done a check of where cars/bikes are before crossing an intersection, turning or whatever then I don't feel its necessary to fully turn my head but rather glance in the mirrors and to the side when the lanes reduce to a single). The other comment (and he was very nice about it saying that real life and a test are different) was that whilst stopped in a line of traffic at a pedestrian crossing, I stopped short of the car in front to allow a cyclist to exit a side street. Apparently this could indicate that I did not know the traffic rules because I was giving way to traffic from a side street.

Well this long 8 month saga is all in the past now! I went straight out to look at some cars and I think I have found a good deal on a used car (2006) that has only been driven 25,000 km by an old man! Perfect. Its a little bit of a small girls car, but in Denmark the priorities are different when cars are triple the price, petrol double and there's a pollution tax on your car's emissions - therefore it must be small, economical, reliable and cheap to run!

OMG !!

OH...MY...GOD...! Finally I have a practical test date, and even better its next week! My driving instructor called me to tell me this week and it was good timing as I'd just spent 2 hours getting to work! Wish me luck :)

waiting, waiting.......

So finally I have passed the theory test, but now I am waiting for a practical test time to become available. Still none as I write this blog.... once I finally get a date there could be another 3-6 week wait for the actual test date from the time of booking. My teacher is searching the whole of greater Copenhagen, but nothing and no new test dates released yet....

Since passing the theory test I decided to change driving schools to the Copenhagen International Driving School in Gentofte since the Enlgish guy there seems a lot more organised and was also the translator and publisher of the Danish Road laws book in English, which I highly recommend you buy if attempting the theory test (www.learn2drive.dk). He was quick to organise a practical lesson for me on the Sunday after transferring to him - a double lesson just to make sure there were no bad driving habits or anything I needed to change before the driving test, and for me it was also good to get in extra practice at driving on the right. He was pretty happy with my driving, and his only general comment was that I should drive in the outer most right lane (slow lane) whenever possible as this is something they always pick up on. Personally if I am sticking to the speed limit I may not always choose the right lane due to parked cars or whatever, but will of course make sure I am never holding up traffic that wishes to go faster, and on a freeway (motorway) I will only travel in the right lane if there is no traffic going slower than me, otherwise I usually travel in the middle lane and stick to the speed limit. Personally I don't see the point of always being in the right lane if you have to constantly change lanes to get around slow or parked cars (a hazard in itself), but if that's what I have to do to pass this test then I will do it! Apart from that, my only other "mistake" was to pass a car on the right that was slowly accelerating from traffic lights that had just turned green.

PASS !!!!

Oh thank god I passed the theory test today!! Now just the practical test to pass, which apparently is easier but we'll see (I've lost all confidence in the process)!

My partner is very relieved I might add, as Australia was starting to call!

The paper here is the all important paper you must take to your test. It shows I failed the first but passed the second. Note there are 14 possible repeat tests on this page, but thats not all, there's 28 in total continuing to the next page. My god, do they consider it necessary to have 28 possible re-tests!!???

One more try!

Well I have decided to give the theory test another try - I do hate to be defeated! However I'm not sure I will bother wasting more time, effort and money if I fail again. I'll just resign myself to public transport for another year or two and plan on returning back to Australia.

So what's happened between now and my last post (and theory test failure) I hear you ask?! Well I had planned to book in for a new theory test earlier, but I had to rush back to Australia for a family funeral but luckily I managed to leave before the volcano erupted and return once the worst of it had cleared.

Whilst away in Australia I contacted my driving school and asked him to book me in for a new test. He told me he needed the form that I got from the Borgerservice in order to go to the Police and book me in for a test. I said I could bring it to him immediately on my return from Australia and that he should book a date in for me now. Of course he could not book the date without having my form (which he and the police have seen before), but oh no, he has to physically have the form to make the booking.

So on my return to Denmark I went in to the driving school with the form and got him to book in for a new theory test, and as usual there's a 4-6 week wait as I expected. The guy told me that "if its any consolation, I looked at the theory test you were given, and it was the NX version"! Apparently this "NX" version is the most difficult to pass but he could not tell me why the Police give this more difficult test sometimes, and apparently the Police could never answer this either. Well lucky me, I got it and failed by one picture! So he tells me he can probably book me in for a test in 4 weeks time. Great I said, do it. So that will be 1,500 kr. Oh shit, I just cycled over and forgot my wallet, but I did remember the form of course. He said not to worry, he'd make the booking and then I could pay him when I come back and collect the form (because you need to present this all important form at the test).

A week later I haven't heard back so I SMS him (this is his preferred way of communication) and he tells me the date of my test (which ends up being 6 weeks not 4 as he indicated previously). OK, I reply, I'll drop by to pay the money and pick up my form. So again I go back to the driving school. I pay the money and I ask for my form. Oh no he said, I need the form to make your booking. I said, but you have already made the booking and I understood that I would pick up the form today when I made the payment. He told me that it was only a pre-booking and blah blah blah, I would have to come back and collect the form a week before the test. Mmmmmm, not what he told me last time, but hey, I told myself to keep my cool and remember, this is the LAST time I put myself through this bullshit! He also asked me whether I'd like to go for a pre-test class with him again. I asked, well will that cost extra, to which he replied that it would be a "special" half price rate for me since it would be my second time. I said no, I don't think I will bother, after all he told me he thought I could not have prepared any more than I did last time and that even he would not necessarily pass the test if he did it himself!

So that's the current situation. Wish me luck, because I seriously don't want to put myself through any more of this bullshit and just line all their pockets with more money for nothing in return!