A question about driver's tests:

[hedgehog]

Poll question: A question about driver's tests:

Should my daughter lend her brother her brand new Prius for his road test?

[Rosie1223]

1. Is the brother 16?

I'd say yes for the road test, he will be on his best behavior.

Now, the first solo trip afterward.....:scared:

[Chan790]

2. You should road test in the car you've driven the most.

If that's his sister's Prius, then yes.

[HopeHoops]

3. NO, NO, NO, and NO FUCKING WAY!

You have to take your test in a land yacht, van, station wagon, or something else large. People who take the test in a dinky little rice burner can't figure out how to park to save their fucking lives! They can't even stay in their own lanes in a car the size of a tissue box!

If you can't pass the driving test in a huge vehicle, STAY THE FUCK OFF THE ROAD!

Besides, if he asked, that's grounds to say "no" simply because he doesn't have the confidence to do it in something larger. And he'll probably dent it on the curb doing a three-point turn - those things have no ground clearance.

[hedgehog]

4. It's more that he's out of town and the choice is his sister's Prius

with an automatic or his brother's pick-up truck with a manual transmission.

[HopeHoops]

5. Pickup with the manual - it is the best way to handle it.

If you can pass the test in the most difficult vehicle available to you, you won't worry so much when you are driving. I took my test in a 19' 1978 Pontiac LeMans with bad lifters. I can parallel park ANYWHERE and in ANYTHING!

If he takes the test in a go-cart, he won't EVER parallel park in a public place - trust me.

[hedgehog]

6. I've been driving for 35 some years, and I doubt I've had to

actually parallel park 50 times. (Sliding into a street side space doesn't count).

[HopeHoops]

7. Holy shit!

I've had to parallel park at least 50 times in the same WEEK!

[hedgehog]

8. I think it all depends on where you live. If you have to learn to

parallel park, you learn to parallel park. Around here, the ability to judge the exact condition of the snow on the road (greasy, gritty, icy, slushy, etc.) is what matters!

[HopeHoops]

9. Been there, done that - lived in N.W. PA and NH.

Big heavy cars are WAY better than dinky little rice burners in ALL of that stuff.

[dysfunctional press]

14. i always found that parallel parking my '73 olds 98 was fairly easy, even in downtown chicago.

if the spot wasn't quite big enough to start with- it would be by the time i was parked.

solid steel bumpers and a 454 cubic-inch engine were pretty good about pushing things out of it's way.

[tabbycat31]

10. i couldnt pass the test in a large vehicle now

and i've been driving for 10+ years. I've always driven small cars and dont want a larger one. My Forester is still big to me.

[jmowreader]

11. No...

Road tests are MUCH more fun in one of these...



Also, if you take your road test in one of these you can get a useful career when you're 21.

The one I took my CDL test in was even this color, but it wasn't quite as nice--it had 18 different brands of tires and only one side spoiler because someone three classes before us tore off the other one doing a blind-side 90-degree back and jackknifed the trailer so hard it crushed the spoiler. (And I didn't even know there WERE 18 brands of truck tires!)

But someone upthread had a good point: Priuses are not good for driving tests, because they're too small. You know anyone with a Cadillac from the era when they were family cars--as in "big enough to get someone pregnant in the back seat"? And could he borrow that car?

Oh, bad war story follows: The school I went to takes you to the road course you're going to be tested over, so you can drive it a couple times before there's someone from the DMV in the passenger seat. Someone in my class was driving the test route the day before the DMV rode with him, got cut off by a moran driving a pickup, and wound up hitting the telephone pole in front of the DMV with his trailer. (The next day, he drove the course with the DMV examiner and scored 98.) Unfortunately, his instructor called the schoolhouse before they got back. He pulled in, backed the truck into its parking space, shut down, got out..."Hey Polesmacker!"

[triguy46]

12. Here, I'll lend him the car I took my drivers test in last Friday....

It should make the test go a little faster.

<a href="" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Ohio Joe]

13. Yes

I let my last girlfriends son use my 2002 Thunderbird to take his.

[mwooldri]

15. If the Prius is a manual then yes definitely.

But I think the Prius is probably an automatic so if the daughter passes in the Prius there'll possibly be that learning curve when acquiring a car with manual transmission.

But road tests in NC are too piss easy anyway. She should go take her driving test in Finland. Test includes a trip out on a skid pan.

Mark.

[Chan790]

16. Before reading this thread...

I always wondered why the state of CT explicitly states that driving tests must be taken in a car with an automatic transmission. I always thought..."Who in any sane state of mind would ever take a driving test in a car with a manual tranny? That's just one more thing to potentially f^&k up in an already high-stress situation."

Now I know. They get pissed too if you show up to take your test in one of those newfangled Lexuses that parallel-park themselves and have automatic back-in with the collision-avoidance and the back-up camera. Seriously, if technology is going to make all the hard parts of driving obsolete...why wouldn't I exploit that on my test?