For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for June 09, 2021

hang in there, Michael

It appears that the driving examiner has given Michael a second chance to parallel park and even then he can’t concentrate. Of course, to be fair, having a student driver try parallel parking between two closely-located cars is just asking for trouble. When I had my driving test decades ago and when my kids did theirs a few years back, the parallel parking part of the test was in a spot where you were not going to be hitting other cars if you failed.

His parents will be overjoyed if he doesn’t pass, though. Spend all week gloating.

I would have quit halfway through the test. I’d have known then that there was no way in hell that the instructor would pass me.

“That’s OK, I can take a bus to the curb.”

I was the best parallel parker in my driver’s ed class. I was also the only one who took the “Figure 8 challenge” (doing a figure 8 around 2 light poles…backwards).

Where I grew up it was common for people to fail their first driver’s test. Everyone expected they would have to take it more than once. It snowed the day before my test so when it came to parallel parking I had to do it next to a snowbank so it was easier than it normally was. I was pleasantly surprised to pass my test the first time.

When I took my driving test, the parallel park was done only behind ONE car. Not between TWO cars. I passed the test on the first try.

Tough time for kids, the rollercoaster of developing/fizzling relationships combined with the pressure to progress and achieve… I don’t really miss those years..

….his brains?

In real life, it is rare that it is necessary to parallel park…

In Ontario the failure rate for a G2 license varies greatly in Downsview the failure rate is 52%, while only 7% in Kenor.https://www.apnatoronto.com/road-test-failure-rate/

In California The failure rate in Santa Monica is 70%, LA 60% fail while in Chula Vista only 20% fail.https://yogov.org/dmv/california/california-dmv-road-test-pass-rates/

Back when I took my test in California(1970) they did not have parallel parking. In Texas they had you park between two flexible post in the DMV parking lot. You could opt out of the parallel test but you would lose 10 points (you could lose 30 and still pass), however if you tried to park and bumped one of the flexible post you failed.

I remember my driving test. I had come in for a restricted license, but I was told since my birthday was in a month, I oughta apply for the regular adult license. My test went smoothly with a parallel parking portion, the last item, being not perfect but close enough. I passed.

This is about how I still parallel park.

I know many kids (myself included) who failed their first on-road driver’s test.

Mr. Teenaged “World’s Greatest” is getting a well-needed smackdown.

You’ll pass one day, one week…

This strip came to mind when I watched a rerun of Married with Children, where there is a car crash and the family sees it as a lawsuit and their one-way ticket to Easy Street.

Lawyer: “So you are Bud Bundy?”

Bud: “Call me Big B”

Lawyer: “No. Now Mr. Bundy, your academic record shows excellent work in drivers’ education, am I correct?”

Bud{smirking}: “98 on the written exam, dude”.

Lawyer: “You are a fine young man, are you not?”

Bud: “I think so. My excellent academic record backs up that belief.”

Lawyer: “Do you know what they do to fine young men in the Big House, Big B?”Bud gulps and his snarkiness melts away “That is exactly where you are going if you perjur yourself, so I am asking you one time, and one time only to tell me exactly what happened!”

Bud{frantic}: “We were playing eyesies-closeies and my sister covered my eyes while I was behind the wheel and I collided with the other motorist. But the idea to sue him came from that man!”

Bud points to his father

I feel ya, Mike – I failed the parallel parking section on my first attempt at getting my license, too.

I am going to assume that, at least in the US where you furnish a car for the test, that parallel parking is not part of the test anymore due to the tech like the auto parallel parking option that is slowly finding its way into lower priced cars.

My worst parallel parking experience was in Portsmouth, GB. The street I was on was 1-way, so I could park on the right side of the road as I was used to, but the driver’s seat was also on the right side of the car. When you are used to having the bulk of the car on your right, it messes with your perceptions when it’s not there. I did what I thought was a perfect parallel park job and discovered that I was almost 5 feet from the curb.

I never did have a problem with driving on the left side of the road because so was everyone else and all you had to do was follow the flow. The problem was maintaining lane position, again because of that unfamiliar bulk of the car on your left instead of your right. You get used to maintaining lane position based on 30 years of experience and all of a sudden, the dynamic is thrown off. I had the same problem when driving the Class A RV which is quite a bit wider than a compact car.

So am I the only one who noticed that in panel 1 he’s parking on the left side of the street? Notice the wheels on the right half of the car are turned, indicating that’s the front.

In the original comic strip, Lynn Johnston forgot to draw in the seat belts.

https://fborfw.com/strip_fix/strips/92/fb920610.gif

Fortunately you can take the exam again. And again. And – well, however many times it takes. I don’t know what the required interval between tests is, though.

His brains are tofu? How many brains does he have?

Both hands on the wheel, Michael.

When my daughter turned 16 and went for her driving test, she hit a car in the parking lot and had to go inside and look for the owner…the test ended before it began. (The owner said it was okay, his car was a junker anyway, very nice about it!) The worst part was her little brother going to school and telling everyone! (He didn’t try for his when he turned 16.) ;)

He’s gonna FLUNK!!!!

They let us parallel park between tires. It was the only thing I didn’t do well, but they passed me anyway.

Mike was a little full of himself early on and maybe didn’t think adults knew what they were talking about. Some teens think they know everything. Remember?