Have you heard of many young people having problems in passing the new, more difficult driving test? My 19-year old daughter has taken her driving test in Nice three times – the first time she failed for a valid reason, the second because she was driving too slow (sticking to the speed limit is apparently not fast enough) and the last time because of a minor fault. 

Her instructor, who was in the back of the car as they always are during the test, said she should have passed on the last two attempts. The other would-be driver in the car also failed on a very minor error. More and more people are having to take the tests 3 or 4 times before they pass – reasons given for failing are often “not dynamic enough”, “too slow”, “not taking the initiative”. I know that the French authorities have tightened up on the test as part of their campaign against dangerous driving but at this rate there won’t be any new drivers on the road at all. Reasons such as travelling at 30 in a 30 km. zone are a bit strange, especially as the examiner must surely understand that anyone taking the test is going to try to do everything by the book – going too fast and being too confident would be much more acceptable reasons for failing! We’ve heard of several young people who have already given up (price of a one-hour lesson is around 28 euros) and are resigned to driving their parents’ cars completely illegally, with no licence and therefore no insurance. My own daughter started off on the ‘permis accompagné’ system but had to give it up to study for her Bac. She has since had loads of lessons, and like many of her friends in the same situation, is a competent, sensible driver.

It is a bit annoying when the driving school says she’s ready to pass and then she fails. Each time its several more lessons (without the permis accompagné she can’t drive with an experienced driver beside her to practice) and 50 euros each time to the government for the test. Sometimes I have a slightly cynical feeling that the campaign against bad driving is a nice little money-earner. Especially with the recent idea of allowing 16-year olds to drive!

B. Taylor by e-mail

This is the first we’ve heard of it but let’s see if anyone else has encountered the problem. We’re a bit sceptical of the “money earner” argument though. With functionaries costing what they do, 50 euros would barely cover the cost of the exam. For some people the foreign option is a realistic one. If you pass your licence in another EU country, it’s valid in France, even for residents.

M.M. 

From Reporter 106 - Dec 2004

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