(Originally posted at WAMU's The Conversation )
I understand your confusion. You believed it was your inability to multi-task which posed the greatest risk on the roads in the District of Columbia. Those of us unable to eat a sandwich, make a phone call, have a shave and negotiate the Tenley Circle in rush hour all at once.
But you'd be wrong. Recently our marvellous au pair Oksana, who arrived on Independence Day with a spotless drivers' license from the Ukraine attempted to take what's enticingly called the "DC Knowledge Test."
Here - you have a go.
1. How much room should you leave while passing a cyclist? Four feet?, five feet?, three feet?
2. What is the maximum speed in a DC alley? 25 mph? 15mph? 10mph?
3. How close must you park to the kerb? Within 24 inches? Within 9 inches? Within 12 inches?
4. What is the minimum tread on your front tires? 4/32 ? 6/54? 3/36?
5. How far ahead of a right turn must you use your turn signal? 50 feet? 100 feet? 200 feet?
6. What do you do if there is a funeral ahead of you? (plough on through it, perhaps? or does it depend whose funeral?)
OK, I draw the line at that one, because as she completed the answers on the DMV computer, she began to think it was hers they were talking about. And, subsequently, she narrowly failed. We'll have to study the motorist's version of Trivial Pursuit a little harder.
Am I alone in thinking this is hard, or in the case of 6, obvious, and somewhat arbitrary? How many did you get right?
Those maniacs in white vans who overtake you on the South West freeway - do they really know this stuff?
Answers 3, 15,12,4/32,100
