Drivers Permit Test

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I'm taking my test to get my permit tomorrow. Anyone have any tips?

If it is the written test and you have read the manual, you should do fine. It is simply rote memorization and common sense.

If it is the road test, then I wish you good luck.

Yeah, its the written test. Problem is I'm nervous and I don't want to mess up

Common sense? Not always, alas. This is the question that I failed:

At what time should the driver of the vehicle turn the headlights on?
A. Half an hour before the sunset.
B. At sunset.
C. Half an hour after the sunset.

Answer: Of course, turning the headlights on when it's not yet pitch dark is so dangerous that people who would think of doing so should be barred from operating vehicles on public roads. If you select A or B, you fail.

Be loaded with anti-histamines. It helps put you and the instructor on the same mental level.

I should hit the manual so I could get mine too. Just simple, read the manual, and memorize everything, as long as it is used on the road when necessary.

Don't forget to tell us how much it cost.

magic, how the hello can that be? If it is after sunset, I would be needing the headlights to see. And why do they now have cars with headlights which are on at all hours??? (Not attacking you. Just wondering as to how they couldn't possibly have thought that question out logically... But I guess it is the License Bureau.)

I'm Canadian, you insensitive clod! (By law, all motor vehicles in Canada have to be wired so that the headlights come on automatically when the vehicle is in motion. Most manufacturers take the lazy way out and just wire the light relay to the ignition circuit.)

Curses!

Curse the canadians for once again making sense!

Curses!!

Hope it goes well.

I've had my permit for awhile now. After reading the manual's first 4 (out of 15 or so) chapters, I realized there were basically only a few thing you need to know:

1. Always drive on your right, the right always wins
2. Stop signs are red and have 8 sides (yes, it's a question)
3. Train signs are confusing, all other signs are self-explanitory via the picture

Sophist, I agree with you that the test question is bewildering and the answer illogical. While there is some light lingering after the sunset, due to scattering of Sun rays in the atmosphere, it is certainly safer to switch the headlights on earlier. The test is wrong because it punishes behavior that is legal and safer than the one it rewards. (I passed this test many years ago, hopefully that particular question was since edited out.)

By the way, in a total disregard of traffic regulations as understood by DL test authors, my car has the headlights on all the time when the engine is on, and switches them automatically to a brighter night mode according to indications of the light sensor (following choice A, more or less).

Jetson, I meant no offense. I am somewhat perplexed by your reply, as I referred neither to you nor to Canada in my previous post.

Unless you live in the UK

I got my permit! whahoo! lol

Hehehe. My turn to be sorry. The "you insensitive clod" line is a recurring meme on Slashdot whenever there's a multiple-choice question that has no possible answer for some people due to reasons of nationality, religion, etc. It's intended as a joke.

The other recurring meme on Slashdot would result in the answer "In Soviet Russia, the headlights turn *you* on." I think it was a play on the idea that the KGB might put a camera inside a TV so that they could spy on whoever was in your livingroom.

I got that much, I couldn't figure out how that joke worked, though. Thanks for the explanation!