What Americans think of the South African K53 drivers license test - it's nothing less than insane!

This report was posted by the famed 'cranky geek' journalist John C. Dvorak on his blog.  I have long felt that the K53 test is just over the top... No wonder people choose to buy a FAKE license!

Here's the post:

Cullen is a South African driving instructor. You would drink, too. His job is to teach people how to pass the driver?s-license examination, a trial of the country?s famed K-53 Method of defensive driving. Herein lies a problem, for the K-53 Method resembles normal driving about as much as Eminem resembles the late Perry Como.

Securing a driver?s license here is not as simple as passing the K-53, which is not simple at all. It also requires that one apply for the license, a bureaucratic process so daunting that it literally triggered riots this year. It necessitates eye examinations before applying for a license and before the road test - and all over again, should one fail. It often demands that one game the driving examiner, who may wish to flunk the hapless applicant in order to meet the day?s failure quota.

It is helpful to learn South Africa?s extensive and sometimes charming traffic code, which rates children from ages 6 to 13 as one-third of a passenger and includes a road sign that depicts a stick-figure man astride an ostrich.

Based on Britain?s national driving exam, the K-53 effectively requires an applicant to imagine that he is driving a live Claymore mine under assault by guerrillas in bumper cars. The handbrake must be silently engaged at all stops (ratchet-clicking is strictly forbidden) and all mirrors must be checked every seven seconds. Points are deducted for glancing at the gearshift, driving too slow, failing to ensure that headlamps and tail lamps are securely attached, failing to check the pressure on the clutch pedal, failing to look beneath the car for leaks and several dozen other sins.

Technorati tags: South Africa, License, test, crazy