This doesn't surprise me

[Nickote316]

http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...b=EdmontonHome

[mtylerb]

Albertans failing a test with regards to merging? I could see that. Should probably ask the five or six drivers that have almost been hood ornaments on my truck when they stop dead in a Free-Flow lane going from 101 Ave NW on to Gretzky northbound, here in Edmonton. Most probably couldn't tell you the proper way to pick their nose.

[Redfrog]

Probably only tested city mice, cause us country mice know that stuff.

[BlackHeart]

Interesting.

The other night the Yellowhead mergered into one lane due to contruction, but this was right after the merge on from 50st. Coming off of 50st onto yellowhead I merge into one lane and then because of the contruction, signal to merge over one more. Well,well, what a suprise (not really) the guy in the free flowing lane speeds up to block me out. So now I have to either speed up to get in or stop and merge akwardly. The guy ahead of me that also needs to merge has to hit the brakes because of this moron who thinks its his road and no one is to be in front of him. No accident occurred, but it could have been different.

On the way back about through the spot, an hour later, guess what, that road is closed with the fire trucks and emerg vehicles, 3 vehicles all smashed up. Want to bet what occured again.

Seems that it is a epidemic out there of people who do have not brains and think speeding up to block a merge is the proper driving technique. If I have experienced this often, I am sure most others have as well. Even had one guy block the passing lane intentionally at a slower speed and then later do the lane block by speeding up well past the 10over.

WT# is in their heads??? I will bet that their life expectancy is lower (through accident or pummelling) than they think.

[Nickote316]

Also gotta love the morons who decide to change lanes at the last minute when a guy is trying to merge. I was merging on 137th one day during lunch and the lane was wide open. Turn on the signal light to merge, shoulder check and look in my mirrors. As soon as I begin to turn, some guy comes speeding from the far left lane turns into the lane im merging into and cuts me right off. Gotta love Edmonton drivers.

[Enigma]

That is such a misleading article. I agree that there are terrible drivers all over the place, but to equate a terrible driver with someone who couldn't pass their class 7 written test really isn't accurate. This test was taken by a bunch of recently licensed young drivers on another forum I frequent. Many of them got only one wrong and a few 100%. I took the test and failed it. But many of the questions are so obscure, knowing the correct answer does nothing towards making you a good driver.

An example:

When approaching an intersection that you intend to turn at, how many metres away do you need to be in the correct lane before the intersection:

5 metres
10 metres
15 metres
20 metres
25 metres.

(lets see how many get this one correct)

Now a kid fresh off his drivers test, will get this answer no problem. Me? I don't have a clue. But I DO know what is a safe distance is when I'm out driving in this scenario.
So do you mean to tell me that a kid with no driving experience is a better driver than me, because he knows a mathematical drivers question?

In the meantime, here's your class 7 written test. Take it and be honest with what your results are: Drivers test

[howlin]

Quote:
When approaching an intersection that you intend to turn at, how many metres away do you need to be in the correct lane before the intersection:

5 metres
10 metres
15 metres
20 metres
25 metres. this is a stupid question as intersection approaches are never the same.the lane might be smaller then the right(pfft)answer of 15

[Enigma]

You must be a terrible driver like me. That's not correct.

[longshot270]

80% without looking at a book in 19 years. AWSOMER!!
p.s. It's still a fail

[mtylerb]

Originally Posted by longshot270

80% without looking at a book in 19 years. AWSOMER!!
p.s. It's still a fail

Learner's Licence Practice Exam Completed

You got 93%. You got 28 questions correct out of 30.

Congratulations! You have passed the Learner's Licence Practice Exam.

Questions I got wrong were:

9. Motorists must slow to what speed when passing emergency vehicles or tow trucks that are stopped with their lights flashing?

1. 50 km/h
2. 60 km/h
3. 70 km/h
4. 80 km/h

Incorrect. The correct answer is : 60 km/h

Yeah, I was saying ... "wait, that should have been 60" ... after I pushed the button. Oh well.

11. When approaching a stop sign where there is no stop line, sidewalk or crosswalk you should:

1. Stop within 3 meters of the intersecting roadway.
2. Slow down and proceed with caution.
3. Stop just before you enter the intersection.
4. Stop only if pedestrians are waiting to cross.

Incorrect. The correct answer is: Stop within 3 meters of the intersecting roadway.

Wait ... really? Is it different between BC and AB? Cause I'm sure my BC training stated just before you enter the intersection. Probably because it gives you a better view of the oncoming traffic. Made more sense to me.

Oh well, 93%, so I still pass. Haven't looked at a book in 12 years, either.

[Geezle]

Wooo 87%

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by Enigma

You must be a terrible driver like me. That's not correct.

*edit* my mistake...Howlin is right, its 15 m

Here's a couple of the questions I got wrong:

What are the effective times of a provincial school zone?
a. between 8:00 and 5:00 Mon thru Fri
b. between 7:30-9:30, 11:30-1:30, and 2:30-4:30 Mon-Fri
c. dawn to dusk, 7 days a week

(Or something close to that). I observe school zones between 8:00 -5:00 Mon through Fri. Apparently its answer B (I guess I'm too safe...FAIL)

Another one:

6. Is it permitted to encroach on the shoulder of a highway in order to perform a legal pass on the right?
A. No, except on a freeway.
B. Yes, if the vehicle you are passing is stopped.
C. Yes, if the shoulder is paved.
D. No, it is illegal and dangerous. Incorrect. The correct answer is: No, it is illegal and dangerous.

I thought, technically, it was always illegal to pass on the right, but since the question mentioned a legal pass on the right, such as a person turning left off a highway, that you could go around them, provided it was paved.
Correct answer is D. It's illegal to perform a legal pass on the right.

Another one was about parallel parking.

How many cm away from the curb should you be when parallel parking?
a. 15 cm
b. 30cm
c. 50cm
d. 75cm

Now, I can parallel park my truck and 30 foot trailer between two smart cars and be still be within 6 inches of the curb. So I guessed 30cm (1 foot).
HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE DRIVER YOU!!!....Answer is 50cm.

I took my written test 32 years ago with one question wrong. Passed my drivers first time with flying colours. Can drive all sorts of vehicles, trucks, trailers, standard, right hand-left hand...Drive between 30 and 50,000 km's a year and never had an accident and get a ticket maybe once every 4 years...But Nooooooo according to this I'm a failure and a horrible driver.
Put a turban on me, cram for a bunch of statistical and mathematical questions the night before a useless test, and I'll pass and apparently be the safest driver out there.

Want to make the roads safer? Make it mandatory to take a practical drivers education courses for new drivers. These kids cram for a written test, do a drivers test which consists of driving around 4 city blocks, parallel park, shoulder check, and signal at every turn and VOILA!! They're ready to fly onto the Deerfoot during rush hour at 130 km/h...uh huh.....NOT!!!!!!

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by Geezle

Wooo 87%

4 questions wrong? Just barely eh? Whats a fail, 5?

[Geezle]

Originally Posted by Enigma

4 questions wrong? Just barely eh? Whats a fail, 5?

Nevermind

[4thredneck]

90%. Why is it we have to retest for H2S and first aid every 3 years but we only have to get a new picture for our drivers license every 5 years.

[mtylerb]

Originally Posted by Enigma

...

I took my written test 32 years ago with one question wrong. Passed my drivers first time with flying colours. Can drive all sorts of vehicles, trucks, trailers, standard, right hand-left hand...Drive between 30 and 50,000 km's a year and never had an accident and get a ticket maybe once every 4 years...But Nooooooo according to this I'm a failure and a horrible driver.
Put a turban on me, cram for a bunch of statistical and mathematical questions the night before a useless test, and I'll pass and apparently be the safest driver out there.

The point isn't to claim that you're the safest driver. The point is to simply acknowledge that, in theory, you know the laws. Written tests are simply that. In theory, not in practice. The road test is to show that you can, in practice, drive. The problem there is that it's easy to drive one way for the test and then change for normal.

Originally Posted by Enigma

...

Want to make the roads safer? Make it mandatory to take a practical drivers education courses for new drivers. These kids cram for a written test, do a drivers test which consists of driving around 4 city blocks, parallel park, shoulder check, and signal at every turn and VOILA!! They're ready to fly onto the Deerfoot during rush hour at 130 km/h...uh huh.....NOT!!!!!!

Unless the province is planning on providing this training for free, it would tend to discriminate a driver's license towards richer people. Somebody who is barely scraping by wouldn't be able to afford the $400-$600 for a course.

[Cowtown guy]

83%. I got pretty much everything wrong relating to the graduated license.

I haven't looked at a book for 22 years.

[JB_AOL]

90%. Why is it we have to retest for H2S and first aid every 3 years but we only have to get a new picture for our drivers license every 5 years.

To me this doesn't make any sense. This is the one place the gov't could make a ton of cash w/o ****ing people off to badly. Insurance premiums would more than likely go down do to less "bad" drivers. 1/2 the licencing money could go to more traffic cops, which would catch more of the people driving w/o licences or other traffic infractions.

IMHO,
from 16yrs to 60 = driver's ed, written & road test + physical.
60+= driver's ed every 5 yrs, written/road test + physical every two years.

Oh yeah, everyone should be required to take a winter skid control/driving course
and snow tires should be mandatory.

/rant

[mtylerb]

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

To me this doesn't make any sense. This is the one place the gov't could make a ton of cash w/o ****ing people off to badly. Insurance premiums would more than likely go down do to less "bad" drivers. 1/2 the licencing money could go to more traffic cops, which would catch more of the people driving w/o licences or other traffic infractions.

Nothing would come of this. Like I said before, drivers would just drive well for their test and then resume bad habits for their regular driving duties. I, for example, tend to drive with one hand on the steering wheel and one on the gear shift. This would be a fail in a driver test and I know it, so when I did my driving test, I did "9 and 3" and passed with flying colours. I normally do 10 over the speed limit, with the exception of passing emergency and construction and in school zones, again that would be a fail. On my driving test I just paid extra attention to my speedometer. So forcing people to take a practical test every renewal would be a waste of time and tax dollars.

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

IMHO,
from 16yrs to 60 = driver's ed, written & road test + physical.
60+= driver's ed every 5 yrs, written/road test + physical every two years.

Oh yeah, everyone should be required to take a winter skid control/driving course
and snow tires should be mandatory.

/rant

Here I REALLY disagree with you. I used to have to do a physical every year just to keep my class 5/6. It cost me over $600 where it would cost the regular driver $70 to keep their license. It made it nearly impossible for me to keep my license and I was scraping the bottom of the bucket a few times just to keep my driver's license. As it is I currently have to renew every 3 years with a physical which will cost me about $260 more than the average driver.

As for snow tires, it's not the tires. The tires help, but my honest opinion is that it gives a false sense of security and cause more accidents than they save. When I had my Honda Civic, I couldn't afford winter tires, one year, and went the whole winter with Summer tires, not even all seasons. I drove past more people in the ditch and never once ended up in the ditch myself or got in any other sort of fender bender.

The point is, the only difference I can see is common sense and apparently we can't teach or legislate that.

[JB_AOL]

Unfortunately too many people think it is there right to drive.. It's not..

So forcing people to take a practical test every renewal would be a waste of time and tax dollars

Tax dollars no, as the driver would pay for the exams. As far as putting on your game face for the test, well everyone does that for everything. But alot of people don't realize they are doing something illegal (ie not merging properly). Whether you take what you learn from the tests/exams and apply it is up to you, but you should at least know it's wrong. Besides the money from testing could go towards more enforcement.

Here I REALLY disagree with you. I used to have to do a physical every year just to keep my class 5/6. It cost me over $600 where it would cost the regular driver $70 to keep their license. It made it nearly impossible for me to keep my license and I was scraping the bottom of the bucket a few times just to keep my driver's license. As it is I currently have to renew every 3 years with a physical which will cost me about $260 more than the average driver.

And I don't see anything wrong with this. It's called adjusting your lifestyle to suit your needs. I don't know (or need to know) the circumstances, but If I was in a similar situation, I would've considered selling whatever vehicle I have and getting something cheaper, or taking the bus. Once again driving is a privilege.

We'll have to agree to disagree.

As it is currently, it is way to easy to get a driver's licence.

[TreeGuy]

JB AOL, this......

As it is currently, it is way to easy to get a driver's licence.

....is the only part of your posts I agree with. I'm guessing there's a big 'ol bob hawksworth sign in your front lawn right now? Liberals such as youself get so damned caught in their grand plans that they always fail to consider something very important.

There is only ONE taxpayer!

[mtylerb]

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

Unfortunately too many people think it is there right to drive.. It's not..

Unlike TG, I also agree with this statement.

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

Tax dollars no, as the driver would pay for the exams. As far as putting on your game face for the test, well everyone does that for everything. But alot of people don't realize they are doing something illegal (ie not merging properly). Whether you take what you learn from the tests/exams and apply it is up to you, but you should at least know it's wrong. Besides the money from testing could go towards more enforcement.

If they don't realize it is illegal, then they should have been weeded out in the initial exam. Unfortunately, in an effort to not offend someone and keep business rolling in, testers will pass people with very few exceptions. Seriously, if you saw everyone passing with one tester and then saw another tester failing the odd person, who would you choose to go with?

Testers are not in the business of enforcement, they're in the business of making money. If they're not making money, then they're not in business. I'll link another post from another thread:

Originally Posted by anonymous

thats funny, i just re-took my drivers road test in april. and drove the hiway between Drumhelller and Dellia IN THE LEFT LANE with the instuctor sitting beside me,.. I PASSED !

I've pointed this out before that the law states that you are supposed to be in the right lane unless passing. So why is the tester not failing the person for doing something wrong? Probably because the person would go somewhere else to someone who would pass them and then send their friends there too.

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

And I don't see anything wrong with this. It's called adjusting your lifestyle to suit your needs. I don't know (or need to know) the circumstances, but If I was in a similar situation, I would've considered selling whatever vehicle I have and getting something cheaper, or taking the bus. Once again driving is a privilege.

Privilege, sure, but why should I have to pay an extra $90 fee to take a driving test I've already passed? If I've proven that I can pass that test, then there's no reason to take it again and prove that I still know what I'm talking about. You don't magically forget how to drive after taking a test, people just ignore the rules and make their own. Then fall back to the proper way when taking a test.

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

We'll have to agree to disagree.

Everyone is entitled to my opinion.

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

As it is currently, it is way to easy to get a driver's licence.

Agreed.

[FishingMOM]

Getting ones license today isnt as easy as it used to be.
One in the past could get their 360, then a few days later take their final test.

Now one has to go through a LONG probation period.
There are more rules and restrictions on young people getting the licenses today than there ever were.

The problem lies in the fact that you don't have to take the tests in one of the two official languages. You can request to take it in any language with which you are comfortable.