Recently, I took my driving license exam, and in my opinion, it was fairly easy. Despite my limited Chinese knowledge, I was worried about not understanding something, so my husband accompanied me to the exam. The written exam took place at a different location from the driving school. We had the option to take the bus, but we decided to drive ourselves to Miaoli. The exam was relatively straightforward for someone who had studied the rules and regulations from the book. However, I had the disadvantage of the book being only in Chinese, so I had to rely on previous years' English exam questions for my preparation. There were also a few hours of online meetings (conducted in Chinese) to attend, where they explained road signs, rules, and the workings of the engine, brakes, and different parts of the car. I had to attend all the meetings, but without my husband's translation, I struggled to understand most of the content. Moreover, the meetings were held on Saturdays, at the same time as my driving classes, so I couldn't gain much knowledge from them.
I passed the written exam with a score of 92.5/100. After reviewing the correct answers to the questions I had failed, I realized it was more due to misunderstood questions rather than a lack of knowledge. English is not my first language, so there are still some things I may not fully grasp. It only took me about 10 minutes to complete the exam, and I couldn't believe that a few people actually failed it.
After that, we had to drive back to Toufen for the road test. Everyone carried papers that the examiner would fill out while testing our driving skills. I scored 88/100 in both the indoor area (I'm not sure what it's called) and on the road. I wasn't too nervous initially, as the initial checks, starting the car, driving uphill, and stopping at a railroad crossing went well. However, as I observed another person driving during their test and seeing them make mistakes (crossing the line, resulting in a deduction of 32 points), I started to feel nervous. Nevertheless, I completed the parking and S-turns successfully. Later on, I felt even more nervous waiting for the road test. Again, I performed the car checks, prepared to start, but I forgot to push the brake pedal initially. I quickly reacted and the examiner didn't say anything, so we proceeded onto the road. It seemed that I was going a little too fast for his liking (is driving at 30 km/h considered fast?), but he occasionally applied the brakes himself. While on the road, there were trucks and scooters overtaking me from the left, adding to the pressure. Luckily, everything went well, and we drove back to the driving school. I passed the exam and finally felt relieved. My husband is happy now because he can sleep longer on Saturdays and has someone to drive when he feels tired.
The driving license was ready within 2 days, and Taiwan is indeed efficient! However, we forgot to update our address as we moved households about a week after I signed up for driving lessons. As a result, I had to give the driving license back immediately. The driving school offered to help us exchange it, so we wouldn't have to drive to Miaoli city ourselves. Although I had to wait 2 weeks to get it back.
Since receiving my driving license, I have only driven once, and I was quite scared. It was a busy weekend, with crowded roads. I also found myself in the wrong lane, which forced me to turn right. After that, I became more nervous and made a few mistakes, including forgetting how to make a U-turn and continuing to drive straight for a while. Thankfully, I didn't hit anything or anyone, and I drove for several kilometers, so it wasn't that bad, I suppose. I just feel like the driving school didn't fully prepare me for real-life road driving.
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