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Get a driving Licinse in this country is one of the annoying pain in the ar$e exeprience anyone can ever have unless u r lucky and have a driving license from a country of these countries considered the 1st world countries then it will be a piece of cake.

Here comes my story as I'm not a holder of 1st world country driving License i had to take a driving test, and there are 2 ways of doing getting a private instructor or taking a course in one of the local driving school. By the way if you choose either u r 80% likely to fail the 1st time and for woman they are more likely to pass from the 1st time.

Anyway I chose Emirated Driving Institute ( EDI ). Since i have been driving for 11 yrs and drove in a couple of countries around the world i thought all i need is a crash course which is between 6 to 12 classes but to get into these short courses u have to take a preliminary test, which i have taken and they decided i need 8 classes.

Here is what I paid at this stage:
60 dhs Preliminary Test
50 dhs Opening a file in the traffic dept.
30 dhs Signals Lecture
70 dhs Admission fees
480 dhs Driving classes (60 dhs each)
50 dhs for a Signals test
Total of 740 dhs and I didn't take one lesson yet. And you can't start your classes until u pass ur signals test and you can't take the test unless they stamp you papers saying that u attended the lecture weither you need it or not. So u take the lecture and have to go another day to book the signals test which will be after a week or so. The signal test it self is a very easy u can easily answer all the questions correctly under 2 mins and the test time is 10 mins.
Finally i took my test passed and said to myself a week from now i'll be driving around with my new license flashing at everyone i see
After i finished my classes which took me 3 weeks to finish and my instructor told me I'm ready, I booked the test and it was 5 days later.

On the test day i went and paid 80 Dhs(New total 820Dhs)for the test and waited for my turn.There was 4 us and each one drove for 3 mins tops. The examiner was yelling at everyone telling them how to drive and failed all of us. And told me I don't know how to control the car at that point i didn't know what to do laugh or beat the living day light out of him. TO BE CONTINUED

CONTINUED......
Here are the reasons why he failed me cuz they are kind enough to tell you where is ur weakness.
1.Applicate causing a serious danger. (Hazard)
2.Left, Right and U Turns
3.Lane Discipline & Lane Changing.
4.Approaching Junctions, Roundabouts & Traffic Lights.
5.Maintaining a Safe distance.
6. Control of the Vehicle & Attentiveness.

Then they send you back to the instructor and tell you u have the option to continue with them and pay for 6 classes and get another test after a week or
or tell them u r on your own.
So I decided lets finish what i started with them and paid 360 dhs for 6 more classes (New Total 1180 Dhs)
I took them and yesterday I had my road test.

ROAD TEST No. 2
There was 3 of us this time the 1st one failed and I was the 2nd I drove smoothly and everything was ok. Then after all of us had finished he gives us our reports I passed yay yaya yaya yaya. But the examiner told me that my left and right turns are weak i should practise them more LOL which didn't make any sense to me but who cares i'm getting my license.

I had to go back to my instructor so he would sign some papers. When i arrived at my instructors car I found one of the guys that were with me waiting for the same instructor we chatted for a lil bit and I took a look at his report I was surprised to find out that he had the exact same remarks I had the 1st time and I'm damn sure that the other guy had them too. And all of sudden i remembered that the examiner asked each one of us how many times did we take the test.

So i went to ask what to do next the pointed me to the cashier who took my passing paper and the report and told me please pay 130 dhs (New Total 1310dhs) I found out that I must attend Final Lecture which i don't need at all since the Traffic dept. said that I'm qualified to drive on the crazy streets of Dubai I said ok whatever, I just want to finish I found out that the lecture is at 2:30 pm and Traffic dept. close at 3:00 which means that i have to go again today to finish this god damn license. And pay 110 Dhs for it. FINAL TOTAL OF 1410 DHS WITHOUT TAXIs.

So if u r aup for it get your wallet ready and expect it to take a month atleast.

By the way school or no school its the same you might save alot of money if you didn't go to school cuz they are blood sucking SOB.

GOOD LUCK TO THOSE ARE NOT LUCKY ENOUGH

Well, at least you passed and you're finally going to get your licence.

By the way, I tried to call you back yesterday but you snobbed me.

Dude, to be honest with you it really doesn't surprise me that these guys are morons. Whenever I see an EDI car out on the road with a student and instructor inside, the lane discipline is appalling, they use the wrong lanes on roundabouts (one nearly collided with me the other day, when he decided to radically change lane), they're bloody useless.

woh waf,

congrats on getting your license. you were lucky to get it in second attempt, i had to wait for my third to get my license. what you cited above is a perfect replica of what happened with me but the reasons were different.

Now the thing is all the three times i got the same cop to analyze my driving skills

Test one
reasons for failing
1. Driving too slow(in a residential area i was abiding to the rules and driving at 40 according to the signs posted on the street).
2. As i was driving slowly i caused a danger to the other vehicles on the road when i took a left or a right turn on roads without signals.
3. not changing lane when told to ( a mustang was roaring down in the lane next to me about to reach us).
4. Incorrect approach at the junctions.
5. Improper use of hazard ( i dint get this one till the end coz i never had an opportunity to turn on the hazard).

test two
1. Not looking in the rear view mirror after taking U turn ( now i had actually looked in the mirror but my head dint move as much so i get his approval )

Test three
The cop smiles at me when in car for the test and asks which attempt ( I say third trying to hide my emotions and rage)

test cleared
There was a arabic speaking guy with us on the same day who commited all the mistakes on the test form and yet he passed .

So to everyone whos about to take the test keep the above points in mind.

J

Jeevan wrote:1. Driving too slow(in a residential area i was abiding to the rules and driving at 40 according to the signs posted on the street).

HAHAHAHAHAThat is classic, You failed for driving the speed limit,

I'm one of those lucky people that only had to pass an eye test but congrats to you both for getting your licenses in the end

I've never had a driving lesson in my life.

It's fair to say I'm one of those people that taught themselves to drive a motor vehicle in a 4x4 in my uncle's paddock at the age of 13.

I will add, it shows.

The Instructor sure came up with a lot of comments for an approx 3 min test. Me thinks this is all fixed.

you brothers.... thanks for the tips...

i have failed my first attempt test (with EDI), and only one reason given to me...... "you did not look over your shoulder while changing lanes!!!!!"

felt like telling the instructor that if i made a 180 deg turn of my neck, i would have probably failed again, as you would have mentioned that I am not looking in the front while driving!!!!!

anyways, due to ramadan, my next 6 classes and test will take some time, so I have to wait till oct 2nd week for the same now.....

does anyone feel that this is a money-making racket??? believe me guys, i didnt even take a test in bombay and had a license!!!! and that has got nothing to do with the accidents that happen

Sounds like a nightmare to me, glad that I have a license from one of the "1st World" countries.
But it has vastly improved in recent years, I can remember back in the mid 90's where a guy working for me had given up on trying to get a license after having been failed 18 times.

I think they should just give the licenses to anyone, I mean, I doubt it's going to make the standard of driving any worse in Dubai is it?

^ian^ wrote:I think they should just give the licenses to anyone, I mean, I doubt it's going to make the standard of driving any worse in Dubai is it?

Now that may be true

Shit, you boys went to a lot of trouble. I found mine in a box of cherios.

XRW-147 wrote:Shit, you boys went to a lot of trouble. I found mine in a box of cherios.

I think it was All Bran, the way you drive

Nah mate, name says it all 1,2..."cherio!"

mine took an hour and 100 Dhs

arniegang wrote:mine took an hour and 100 Dhs

What was that for Arnie, not a test surely, apart from the eye test, you showed them your British License right.

Back in the 70's I went with a m8 to get our licenses, I had to take a test (passed 1st time) and my m8 had to do the eye test only, only problem was he had a glass eye. He didn't tell the police and he passed the test, any ideas???

yes mate just walked in , and i didnt even have to do the eye test. This was strange because they didnt ask what the white stick and labrador was for.

Congrats on Drivers License. Guess one has to drive like a bat out of hell in order to get one around here!!!

If you can't beat them, join them!!! I'll try that attitude on the way to the golf course this afternoon.

I argue with my EDI driving instructor at least once every time I am out driving. The usual cause is inconsistent instructions from one lesson to the next. I've also been told to drive too fast in a zone with a clearly posted speed limit of 40, and construction workers and vehicles on the right - so I argued with her and told her that I follow the posted speed limits because that is what the police expect of me. She left me alone about it after that. She likely thinks I'm a pain in the ass, but I don't really care. I'm paying a lot of money and want good instruction. Pretty soon I will take my driving test and by the sounds of things it could take me a while to pass in this "system".

K, I'm still happy to take you out for some advance or defensive driver training.

Thanks X, and I will take you up on that, but I can't drive with anyone until I officially get my license. It is illegal to do so here.

ahhhhhhh dont worry about that K, just take X's keys, jump into his motor and practice some Emergency lane overtaking manouvers @ 200 kph



ps: and dont forget to shout out of the window at the car behind
"eat my sand you arsehole"

arniegang wrote:ahhhhhhh dont worry about that K, just take X's keys, jump into his motor and practice some Emergency lane overtaking manouvers @ 200 kph



ps: and dont forget to shout out of the window at the car behind
"eat my sand you arsehole"

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