Wednesday 24 March 2010

What am I 16?

Rewind to last November; NotBlondeHusband and I were driving down from Glasgow to Ayrshire for his Aunt's wedding and I looked something like this:


Yikes. Anyway, what happens to my poor NBH as he drives his almost 9 month pregnant wife and puppy down the road? He gets in his first accident ever, which results in our car getting written off/totaled. The damage and the accident weren't that bad, but the resulting work needed done was greater than the value of the car.

So why am I telling you this? Well when your car gets totalled, you suspend your car insurance; when NBH called to renew/start the insurance back up we were informed that I would not be insured. Apparently for the past 4 years I have been driving illegally as the insurance company wrongly informed us that I could drive on my US license for a year every time I entered the country. Since I left the UK once a year this worked--well apparently not. If I want to drive in the UK, I have to take the British test.

So fast forward to now and I'm back where I was some 14 years ago studying for my driving test. I've only booked my Theory test so far, but will have to take the Practical test as well.

Some of these questions are really stupid. Apparently some of the things I need to know to drive in the UK include:

-the maximum speed of a motorized wheelchair

-how many breaths per compressions for CPR

-how to reduce my emissions/drive environmentally friendly



So I've read "The Highway Code" front to back and am practicing on a computer program I got for £5 off of Play, but I'm still worried I will fail. Mostly because a pass is 85% (umm that's like a B+, not just passing) and also because I will feel like an absolute ass if after 14 years of driving I fail a test I passed the first time I took it on my 16th birthday.

I'd post a picture of me at 16, but all of my HS pics are in my Dad's attic in Ohio.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You'll do fine. It's a pain but you'll be fine.

(p.s. told ya so about the rule...;-P)

Prairie Girl Wanderer said...

I am going through the same thing. I am studying for my UK driving test and I still have to book my theory and pratical. I was told that I can drive for 1 year from the date of my entry to the UK with my US licence,and the is in May. What happens if I fail and can't drive my little Scottish car around anymore!?!? I don't want to take the bus again! :(
Wishing you UK driving success!

Confusha said...

Man, you gotta come to oz... i just gave them my old license... and they issued me with a new one... no worries... I mean, we are even on the same side as you guys... and it freaked me out the first few times..... but got used to driving on this side... it freaks me out when I go back to the US and have to drive on the OPPOSITE SIDE... and end up in the wrong lane!

t.

Kim said...

Good luck! I had one friend in England who failed the practical part 4 times. It was a matter of getting rid of the bad habits a seasoned driver picks up over the years. Of course once she passed she went back to doing all those again! The same rule applies here in Ireland and I need to work on getting my license soon since my year is up!