DAY 114: Singapore Traffic Police Practical Driving Test

Finally it is here
Today is the day of reckoning. It is the day that will decide whether my hard work and determination for the past 3 months would paid off or whether I would be $400 poorer (due to retake). With so much effort, time and money already spent in order to reach this stage, it is hard not to be nervous. I didn't slept a lot the night before as I spent quite a bit of time trying to run through google maps to familiarize with the test routes (which I don't advice to do the night before).

The wait...
To cut the story short, I arrived at BBDC 10min earlier. I was told to wait outside the video screening room beside counter 5. After 5 minutes, an instructor came over to register me. Then I waited in the video screening room for my vehicle to be ready. The room was meant for those who passed the test and they were required to watch a video in the room. I was chased out of the room after a while as they needed to run the video for a group of students (ok I don't belong there yet).

The warm up
A few minutes later, an instructor came to bring me to my test car for warm up. So we drove out from the parking lot and immediately he tab on the dashboard. Haha, I knew he would do that as he displayed all the signs. So immediately I stepped on the brake to perform an e-brake. Then we proceed to do all the circuit courses (S course, crank course, directional change, moving off slope, vertical parking and parallel parking). I think I did quite well - no mount/strike kerb except that I rolled back quite a bit during moving off the circuit slope as I didn't release the clutch enough. My low speed control was also smooth and I know my way around the circuits. Then we drove out to the streets. So far so good except that I was slowed down by a bus that kept stopping at the bus stops. I wanted to overtake but there were many vehicles at the right-lane. Then we returned to BBDC and I was told to go to the waiting area at the second floor.

Another wait... 
The wait was not very long but it was stressful. There were already several candidates waiting when I arrived. One by one, they were called out by their tester. It was like waiting for your turn to go for a job interview. On the other side of the room was a barricaded area for those who completed their test to get their test results or to dispute with the tester in case of disagreement.  I could hear things like "Stop line means you must stop even if there's no incoming vehicle" and "Your instructor didn't teach you?" etc etc etc. All in all, the room is not a place you want to spend too much time in.

The test - route 7
Finally I could hear a soft voice near to the entrance calling my name. I quickly got out of my seat and proceeded to the entrance to meet my instructor. He told me I would be doing route 7. I didn't manage to say hi to him. We quickly proceeded to the test car. Along the way, I managed to get a last peek at my practical handbook for the route 7 map.

I didn’t see any of my group instructors today. I don’t expect them to cheer me on anyway in fact most of my lessons were try-sell so i didn’t manage to build a rapport with any of them. In fact, the only instructor who cheered me on was my first lesson instructor.from another group and he still remembered me although he had only taken me for 2 lessons.

So the test began. Actually I was a bit worn out already after the warm up and felt sleepy (I used to take coffee in the morning but not today because I don't want my hands to tremble during driving). We first proceeded to the circuit courses. His instruction was very clear on which route to take and where to turn etc in the circuit. Also I find everyone was super nice to me. Other cars would give way to me to do the courses. Some instructors even stopped incoming cars so that I can do the right turn. Every time, I would wave at them as a gesture of gratitude.

I managed to clear all the courses smoothly. Smoothly meaning no mount/strike kerb and other silly mistakes (like driving in opposite direction or beat red light). But along the way, I saw the tester tick on the test paper several times. I did't know what mistakes I made. I thought I did fine. Anyway, no point thinking about it now. No e-brake by the way.

After the circuit, we moved on to street driving. The traffic condition was smooth except for some heavy vehicles unloading at Bukit Batok Street 32. Then the unfortunate started to happen. While trying to overtake an unloading lorry, a fast food delivery bike appeared suddenly on my left while I was trying to lane change back to left lane. He was riding at such high speed that I didn't even notice him at my blind spot but lucky I was quick to swerve my car to the right. However to the tester, it was considered dangerous driving on my part. Then another unfortunate incident happened when I was about to enter into Bukit Batok Road from the slip road. My car engine stalled! It was because I took too long to check for incoming vehicles until I didn't notice the car had slowed down to almost a halt. Then I try to move off in gear 2 causing the car to jerk and stalled. I was quick to restart engine and proceeded on. As the traffic was quite smooth, I had no issue doing lane change. Similar to inside the circuit, I saw the tester made several ticks on the paper along the way.

After the test, we went back to the same waiting room. This time I was told to sit in the barricaded area while waiting for the tester to come. After the 2 major mistakes I made, I felt my chances of passing drifted further.. I saw 2 other candidates at the other tables discussing with their testers. Both of them failed. (You see the kind of stress I need to go through...)

Five minutes later, the tester came in holding my test paper. He sat in front of me and with a soft and stern voice, he said to me this...

"You made one major mistake. When the motorcyclist rode past you, you should have seen him at your blind spot and stop lane changing back to left lane. This is considered dangerous driving. Apart from this, your low speed control was not very good. You stepped on the accelerator too much causing the engine to roar loudly. Also you kept turning your steering wheel while stationary. Engine stalled twice when trying to enter the major road..."

Then he said something which every candidates wanted (sometimes desperately) to hear.

"Nonetheless... Congratulations, you passed"

He handed me my test paper and I saw my results. 18 points. I did it! I managed to pass (barely) on the first attempt. I don't need to spend any more time and money in this place anymore. I was very happy and excited. Now I am a fully qualified driver. I thanked the tester, shook his hand and went down to the video room to watch 2 gruesome videos on the results of dangerous and drunk driving (plus fill up a survey form).

I didn't go directly to apply for my license as I need to rush off to somewhere else (sometimes the waiting time could be 1 hour) so I went back to apply a few days later.


Appreciation
I want to thank my wife for supporting me all these while and be there to cheer for me during my practical test. I also want to thank all the instructors who had taught me (and those instructors who gave ways and helped to give way during the test). Most of you were not from my default group, but most of my driving knowledge and skills came from you guys.

Expenditure

Practical Test (incl warm up and car rental)    $242.72
Driving License Registration                           $50.00
Final cost:                                                        $2929.60