Let's not keep you in suspense.
Automobile Association Otago immediate past chairman Jack Crawford failed the new restricted licence practical driving test and Otago Daily Times day editor Dave Cannan would also have failed if the letter of the law had been applied.
Cannan's colleagues found this amusing. After all, he has been driving for 40 years.
And Crawford not only got his licence way back in 1969, he "prides himself" on his driving ability.
But, the mock test set up for the ODT by the New Zealand Transport Agency showed the new version of the restricted licence test is quite an intense experience, even for old hands.
The new test requires 45 minutes of solid concentration and it is hard on bad habits.
Cannan's fatal misdemeanour was as simple as this.
Heading south on the Southern Motorway from the Andersons Bay intersection he encountered roadworks signs including one warning of a speed reduction ahead.
But when he reached the 50kmh sign he was still travelling at 60kmh.
He should have reduced speed to 50kmh before the sign.
Too late to slow down afterwards.
In licence-testing lingo this was an "immediate failure error" - an error that could endanger a road user.
For Cannan that should have meant: return to base, go practice some more, come back another day with another $86.60.
However because this was a mock-up, the test continued, Cannan acknowledging later the error "a lesson well learned".
The officer carrying out the test was New Zealand Transport Agency driver licensing auditor Alan Stott - the man who audits the officers who do the tests.
He considered Cannan would have passed the test comfortably but for the speeding incident, though he should have made more use of his mirrors.
The new driving test consists of two stages.
The first is a 10-minute run-through of what the transport agency bumf describes as "relatively simple" driving tasks conducted in quiet streets.
This stage is designed to determine whether an applicant is "sufficiently skilled" to proceed to the more challenging driving tasks of the second stage.
Crawford failed stage one.
He was, he said later, "a little shocked".
Crawford was caught out by accumulating demerit points for relatively common and relatively minor faults - failing to display good observation skills the main issue.
That alone was enough to fail.
But as well, Crawford clocked up one "critical error" in stage one by failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign.
He also ran over the low concrete kerb at the Andersons Bay roundabout, something that on another day, with a more rigid testing officer, might have been another critical error.
A critical error is one involving an "illegal driving action" and two such errors in stage one or three across the whole test is a fail.
Having sat in the back seat of the Crawford Mercedes and the Cannan Mazda through the two 45-minute tests it was easy to see how the two drivers could have done better - less speed for Crawford, a little more paying attention to his mirrors for Cannan.
Those of us who have been driving since passing our tests on our 15th birthday in the 1960s, or '70s, or '80s find detecting faults in other drivers quite easy.
But detecting the faults in our own driving is another matter.
New Zealand Transport Authority regional manager of access and use Greg Allnutt is in charge of driver licensing in the South.
He considers drivers of all ages have a responsibility to check themselves, make sure they are driving correctly and are not "letting those little [bad] habits sneak in".
He suggests taking a look at the Road Code to brush up on changes to the rules and even to take a refresher course with a driving instructor.
But he concedes some bad drivers will simply not realise how bad they are.
"There will be some people who will be stuck in their ways and oblivious to it and consider themselves a great driver."
He offers no solution to this problem but hopes the more rigorous testing of young drivers now will lead gradually to a better general standard of driving in future.
By the way, he advises anyone contemplating going for their restricted licence to firstly complete a minimum of 120 hours of supervised driving.
But back to Crawford, the "shocked" 58-year-old optometrist and former AA chairman who failed stage one of the test passed by 39% of young drivers.
Because this was a mock test for the ODT's benefit, it was decided he should continue with stage two.
Mostly that went OK - the mirror use and the "head checking" became more apparent.
Stott gave him a "critical error" for being too fast on Cumberland St and could have given him a "critical error" for cutting a corner but gave him the benefit of the doubt instead.
But failing to observe the speed limit through the motorway roadworks, and declaring a preference for staying with the speed of other cars in the stream, was a sure-fire way of failing the test.
Crawford confessed afterwards that in normal circumstances he might well have been travelling even faster and might well have cut more corners.
He took issue with the faults found in his mirror use, insisting he used his peripheral vision, he was "still debating in his head" the need to turn his head when changing lanes and he said he always drove over the low lip of the Andersons Bay roundabout.
He accepted he had risked a ticket for rolling through the stop sign.
And he admitted the test had been a "wee wake-up call".
Crawford said the AA considered most people should be retested occasionally and the test he had failed had been useful.
"I take pride in my driving and if I realise there are flaws in what I do then I need to stop and think.
"That can't be a bad thing."
Crawford can take some consolation from the experience of Radio Dunedin announcer Owen Rooney, who was also tested, by a driving instructor, recently.
Rooney, a truck driver of long-standing, also ran over the Andersons Bay roundabout, and did not slow down for the roadworks and he also clocked up enough critical errors to fail.
Asked if he was likely to repeat the test to ensure he passed, Rooney said it had been "a good eye-opener".
"But I think I've embarrassed myself enough."
Licence fact box
The three-step driver licensing process
Learner licence
• Required before beginning to learn on the road.
• Applicants must be 16.
• Must pass eyesight check.
• Must pay application fee ($48.20).
• Must pass theory test ($45.70).
Restricted licence
• Required to drive without a supervisor between 5am and 10pm.
• Applicants must be 16.
• Must pay application fee ($48.20).
• Must pass the restricted practical test ($86.60).
Full licence
• Applicants must be 18 (17 for drivers with advanced driving course certificate).
• Must pay application fee ($49.60).
• Must pass the full-licence practical driving test ($59.90).
Driving test fact box
Restricted licence practical driving test
Tasks assessed:
• Observation
• Signalling
• Gap selection
• Speed choice
• Following distance
• Lateral position (e.g. choosing appropriate lane)
• Parking
• Turning
Critical errors (maximum of three allowed) include:
• Too slow
• Too fast
• Failing to look
• Failing to signal
• Blocking a pedestrian crossing
• Mounting a kerb
• Stalling the vehicle
• Incomplete stop at a stop sign
• Other illegal action
Immediate failure errors:
• Excessive speed
• Stopping at a dangerous position
• Failing to stop
• Failing to give way
• Collision
• Failing to carry out an instruction
• Testing officer intervention
• Other dangerous action
Timeline
The New Zealand Transport Agency provided a timeline of driver licensing over the past 47 years -
1965
• New written and oral tests were introduced with four correct answers required to the five oral questions. The practical test was for 20 minutes over a route chosen by the testing officer.
1969
• The driving test cost $5. Most were conducted by city council traffic officers. Applicants had to pass an eyesight test, a hearing test, an oral test and had to get 23 answers correct in a written test of 25 questions with no more than one wrong answer in the last 6 questions.
1985/86
• The Michigan driving test was adopted in which patterns of behaviour in three areas were assessed - speed, observation and manoeuvring.
1986
• Over-70-year-olds had to produce a medical certificate, a practical test was required at 76 and every two years after that. "Lifetime" licences were introduced, replacing the booklet.
1987
• The graduated driver licence system was introduced with 15-year-olds required to get a learner's licence before doing any practical driving. They had to spend six months as a learner but this could be reduced to three months if their progress satisfied a driving instructor. After passing a practical test, applicants generally spent 18 months on a restricted phase. Applicants automatically exited the system on to a full licence after a further 12 months.
1990
• New Zealand's first computerised driver licence test was trialled in Dunedin.
1991
• "Scratchies" were introduced for the theory part of the driver licensing tests.
1999
• Conversion to credit-card-sized photographic licences and a change in driver licence classes. Contract driver testing and licence issuing agents were appointed.
