Wednesday, December 09, 2009

Duchess of Hazard

The children will probably not appreciate the play of words since they have no idea who the cousins Luke and Bo Duke were nor who Catherine Bach might be. At best, they will see the similarity in colour of the General Lee and the "new" '97 Camry parked in our garage.

(Note the spelling of 'color' has been amended to remind me that I have to be conscious of the subtle differences in how words are spelled Down Under.)

The title is meant to imply that the message post refers to a lady, rather than two roughnecks; and the deliberate deletion of the extra "z" moves one from a County called Hazzard to simply hazard country.

Watch out, people, I'm back on the road!

Not by choice, mind you, but by necessity.

Here in New South Wales, the Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) take their work very seriously. It is not easy to get a driver's licence nowadays. There is a Driver Knowledge Test (DKT) one has to pass, then the actual driving test is the next hurdle. If you are at least 16 years of age, you are eligible to take the DKT. If you pass this test, as a 16-year old, you would have to go through three licencing stages before obtaining a full licence.

- Learner licence
- Provisional licence, stage 1
- Provisional licence, stage 2

New drivers would have to have at least 36 months of experience and have passed four tests before finally graduating to a full licence.



For the interim stages leading to a full licence, drivers are given L plates and P plates to post clearly on the front and back of the exterior of the vehicle. Whenever a Learner or a P-plater is driving the car, it is mandatory that the corresponding plates are displayed on the vehicle. There are speed limits corresponding to these plates as indicated on the plates. Learners can drive up to a maximum speed of 80 kph, P1-platers -- 90kph, while P2-platers can go up to 100 kph.

Needless to say, it is illegal to drive without a valid driver's licence. What is also illegal is to drive a vehicle with the wrong plate displayed.

If you happen to be 25 years and above (which I admit I am), there is no minimum time for the learner licence but there is a minimum requirement of 120 hours of driving time including 20 hours of night driving.

Learners are not allowed to drive unless accompanied by a person with a full licence. P1 and P2 drivers can drive on their own as long as they stay within their allowed speed limits. In addition, if you pass your driving test in an automatic vehicle, as a P1 driver, you are not allowed to drive a manual vehicle unless accompanied and supervised by a full licence holder.

So what licence am I holding to enable me to drive here in Australia?

I am still holding on to my Philippine driver's licence which expires on my birthday next year but is only valid for me to use up to the 3rd of January next year. I fall under the category of having a current overseas licence and being a permanent resident visa. Thus I am allowed to drive or ride in NSW on my current overseas licence for a maximum of three months after arriving in Australia.

I was perfectly happy to be riding instead of driving. I knew that sooner or later I would have to drive, but I was hoping it would be later rather than sooner.

However, destiny had other plans for me.

MacGyver took the driver's test today. He got a pretty good score over all since he can really drive well here even if the steering wheel is on what is normally the passenger's side of the car and the car goes on the left side of the road. Unfortunately, he failed to stop in front of the construction guy holding the STOP sign thus resulting in an automatic fail in his driving test.

As a result, his Philippine licence has been 'revoked' since it has been determined that he is "not fit to drive." He has to pass the driver's test before he can drive in Australia without "supervision."

We all know that when God closes the door, He opens a window. The open window is the fact that now I am forced to drive.

I'm fine. The question is will the rest of Castle Hill feel the same?

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