On 12/5/2003 3:29 PM, Raj Feridun wrote:

> You should be. What a pain in the ASS! They have you drive down these
> narrow winding lanes in their government issue, boat-sized sedans and
> if you should so much as SLIGHTLY rub a curb you're done. I was more
> lucky than anything else when I made it through on my second try.

A lot seems to depend on where you take the test and the attitude of the 
examiner. You seem to have been unlucky. My experience was much more 
favorable than yours (which was a good thing, because I waited until my 
Illinois license was just about to expire before doing the switchover).

> I guess the whole reasoning behind the UK drivers not needing to take
> a road test is the driving on the left deal. I've driven in the UK and
> I can tell you aside from that fact driving in Japan bears NO
> resemblance. 

That has nothing to do with it, as a matter of fact. People with 
licenses from just about any EU country can switch to a J license 
without having to take the road test. I think it has more to do with 
whether or not the country has a reciprocal setup with Japan (whereby 
they let people with a Japanese license obtain a local one without 
having the take a road test).

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_______________________________________________________________
Scott Reynolds                                      sar@gol.com