The Driving Test(s)
This was the most memorable event of in my first 2 months’ of ‘expatriatism’, reaching unsurpassed highs in aggression, frustration, as well as cramps from laughter.
When applying for an examination permit ($ 5 at the MVA) you receive a NJ driver manual. This booklet contains all the answers to the questions given in the driving test(s). So, take a couple of evenings, or a day in the weekend, and put all data in your mind about the maximum amount of alcohol your body could accept before you are officially declared ‘under the influence’, the braking distance of cars at multiple speeds, and, most important: all the fines, days imprisonment, license suspensions, etc. that you may get upon being found ‘under the influence’. Make a list of all these fines and force it into your gray cells: they form an important part of the written test.
Since there was no immediate hurry, I kept on postponing the written test, until my insurance company told me that they expected me to pass the test within that 90 days. If not, they would be officially allowed to discontinue my insurance.
So, on a Friday afternoon I made the trip to a Motor Vehicle Agency nearby that also was a test center. I was lucky, and only had to wait 15 minutes before I was allowed to do the multiple choice written test. Yes, rumours about the hard copies in the expat community were correct, so I passed with a 100% score. There are now ('99) only two centers that do not yet have computers for the test: Springfield, and Edison. Also these centers probably will replace their paper-and-pencil tests for computers soon.
Delighted with the test result, I went to another line to get my driver license. But first, I had to show them my out-of-state license, so I showed them my International driver license. They also needed my national license, they said, so I gave that one as well. Mistake!
After checking both documents thoroughly, they said: "These are not valid documents for us. We are not able to read your Dutch license, and we do not see any reference in the International license to the Dutch one, so you either have a New Jersey approved translation office make an official translation of the Dutch license, or you have to do a road test!" I told them, that an international driver license was an official translation of the national one. That my name, birth date, birth city, photo, and signature was on it, and that this all matched with the national license. They said that this was not important. The only thing that they would accept was an international license with the same number as the national license. I told them the international license was issued by a separate organization (like the AAA in the USA) and that they used different registration numbers. They said they did not care about this: "Get the road test or the translation, just tell me what you prefer."
I asked to speak with the supervisor. The supervisor said that they correctly followed the procedures, so road test or translation, nothing else. She blamed the other MVA offices for accepting international licenses and giving NJ licenses without road test or translations as: ‘not working in accordance with the rules’. I chose the road test, because they could arrange that for Monday morning 8 am, and spent the whole weekend worrying about the test (For your information: an official translation will probably cost you about $ 100).
Monday morning 8 am: An old factory site in a delapidated part of New Jersey (South Plainfield): I thought I would be the first one, with my appointment at eight o’clock, but next to a messy gate were already seven cars in line, waiting for the Center to open. At 8.05 am, an assistant slowly walks from the main building to the road, a set of orange marker cones under his arm, and begins to put them on marks on the pavement next to my car. With nine markers he builds a parking area large enough to accommodate a truck. Several minutes after that, he returns with eight rolled-up flags (one probably was stolen by an angry driver), puts them on top of the markers, where they remain, unopened.
At 8.10 am, a senior citizen slowly hobbles from the main building in our direction: the first examiner. I notice that one of his feet, his right one, has a gypsum bandage. The senior citizen starts with checking car no. 1: a very young girl and her mother. The mother gets out of the car, and the examiner and the girl take off, turning left while indicating a right turn with the lights. Good start.
At 8.15 am: a second, younger, examiner walks to the line of cars, equalling the speed of the first examiner. He takes off with the candidate in car no. 2.
At 8.25 am, the first car with the young girl and the examiner with the gypsum bandage appears again and now tries to park in the designated area. And tries again, and again. Watching the scene is like watching a Laurel and Hardy movie, one where everything possible is going wrong. The parking test is discontinued after try no. 5. In the mean time, car no. 2 quickly finishes this last test and passes. The younger examiner walks back to the building, probably going for a coffee break after this unique successful ride.
More than an hour later the senior citizen arrives at my car. I give him my friendliest smile. He responds with the question: "Where is the licensed NJ driver that has to accompany you?" I point at myself: "That’s me: my International license permits me to drive here for a period of one year." His immediate response, before I have even finished my words: "Don’t tell me what is allowed or not. I tell you that you need a licensed NJ driver with you. There is a stamp on your permit that requires that." Again I try to explain the situation. He ignores my arguments, states that the car is not good either because there is a console in the middle (leaving about 40 centimeters for him to reach my brakes - with his healthy foot) makes a couple of notes on my permit and waves me good-bye. "You come back with a licensed driver and a car with sufficient space in the middle, otherwise I will not give you a road test."
I suppressed strong homicidal tendencies and left for the office, where I first called my in-country automobile association, who gave me the phone number of the American Automobile Association (AAA), who agreed with the fact that the numbers on the licenses were different, and gave me the number of the Director of the MVA in New Jersey (Trenton headquarters). There, they referred me to the Manager for the region, who said that the license policy was the responsibility of each MVA office, and referred me to the supervisor of the MVA where I did the written test. This supervisor, someone obviously selected for her super vision, said that she already discussed this issue with me the previous week at the MVA office and did not plan to change her mind. She did say that the examinator was not correct in requiring me to be accompanied by a person with NJ license, but that I should have asked for the supervisor of the road test center to get this straightened out. Since the car was not accepted anyhow, she repeated her earlier lines: either an official translation, or a road test with an approved car type.
Needless to say, I was really upset by all this. Not accepting defeat by bureaucracy and narrowmindedness, I tried my last trick: I went to another MVA, where I applied for a new examination permit ($ 3). A bit to my surprise the computer swallowed my address and social security number without complaining, and I received a nice brand-new permit without having to explain what happened to the old one (lost, eaten by the cat, left at home, etc.).
With that new permit (again valid for 90 more days) I drove 60 miles to a regional MVA headquarters, in the mean time adding the number of my national license to my international one and endorsing it with my name to make it look official. At the regional office I did the theory exam again, this time on the computer, and nearly messed it up because of my upset mood (the computer test indeed requires more study). I discussed my national and international licenses with two kind ladies at the regional office, who were clever enough to check the Dutch letters on the international license with the letters on the national one, and thus concluded by reading the English translation that the licenses were valid. Half an hour later I received my New Jersey license with nice color picture! I managed to suppress the desire to go back to the previous testing office and tell them what they could do with my other permit. Total required time for this action item was 10 hours: one more office day spent ineffectively.
Conclusion: make sure that the number of your international license matches that of your national one, or have your automobile association write or type it on your international license and stamping it with their logo. It may save you at least 10 hours of work. And NEVER try to reason with a civil servant, even when you are right. Also don't forget to keep your sense of humor.