California DMV Demands Thousands of Drivers Retake the Written Test or Lose Their License
tags:- The California DMV has issued 11,000 letters saying that recipients must retake the written knowledge test within 30 days or lose their license.
- Spokespeople for the department say the letters stem from internal monitoring turning up testing irregularities.
- Getting a letter doesn't mean the DMV thinks you cheated, but you will need to do the test over anyway.
"Hey buddy, learn how to drive!" is one of the all-time classic driving put-downs, whether shouted out a window or just muttered under your breath. Now, it's effectively the official written response from the California DMV to as many as 11,000 people who have been sent letters requiring a retest of the written portion of the driver's license exam.
At first, these letters were received by the public as possibly either a clerical error or a glitch in the system. Not so, according to a California DMV spokesperson, who said that internal monitoring had flagged some patterns that indicated the possibility that cheating had occurred. Those who received letters were told to retake the test and pass within 30 days or have their driver's license revoked on the spot.
Hardly anyone finds visiting their local DMV office a fun outing, to the point that the Zootopia cast sloths as customer service employees as an easy joke. And a funny one, fair play to the animators. Tedious form-filling and waiting around are the hallmarks of bureaucracy.
However, in an age when everyone has a phone in their pocket that has the answers to every kind of question, there's at least the temptation to look up answers if you get stuck. The large scale of California's reaction seems to indicate widespread problems.
It is also causing problems for some drivers. Getting around in California isn't easy if you don't have a car, and having the threat of your license being taken away can seriously disrupt your life. It's one thing to study for the written test, and perhaps retake it if you miss something or get confused by the way a question is worded. It's something else entirely to have an established pattern to your life and then be told to write a test or lose that license in the span of a month.
Already, there are stories of people who have previously passed a written driving exam and then failed on their second attempt, and that doesn't mean they cheated. Two California state senators have written to the DMV asking for reasons why these tests were flagged, and asking for transparency on what was done to trigger this mass letter campaign.
At the same time, anyone who has spent any time on the highways of Los Angeles knows that it's not exactly textbook driving etiquette and peace and harmony out there. As Homer Simpson observed, "Gas brake honk. Gas brake honk. Honk honk punch. Gas gas gas." If people are trying to game the written test by whatever means, then the DMV needs to be vigilant.
So, on one hand, cheaters shouldn't prosper. And on the other hand, how easily would you sail through a written driving test tomorrow if you had to know the rules of the road down to the last letter? Who has the right of way when two cars pull up to a four-way stop at the same time again? Perhaps it's time for a quick refresher, DMV letter or not.
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Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.