Every month some 10.000 people begin the process of obtaining their drivers license, which includes a written exam and a road test.
According to the Consejo de Seguridad Vial (Cosevi), 55% of the potential drivers fail their road test, this due to a curve that has to driven in reverse. The other reason many fail the road test is as simple as not obeying the road signs.
As to the written exam, the Cosevi figures indicate that a 45% failure rate.
Failing a test is not only expensive but time consuming. To retake the test – written or road – there is a two week waiting period before, and of course the full test fee is payable again.
Costa Rica.
Literacy=Ability to write your name
Driver=Ability to move a vehicle forward and backward(preferably an ox cart).
This may be why so many “cut out the middle man” and just bribe their way to drivers’ licenses. Besides the two-week wait for a retest, there’s the wait for an appointment for the test – a friend just told me that he has been waiting over a year for an appointment.
It’s hard to believe that failure to obey road signs would result in failure of a test, judging from the typical driving here.