950 goes to get a licence

This is from South Korea but could happen here:

A woman in South Korea who tried to pass the written exam for a driver’s licence with near-daily attempts since April 2005, has finally succeeded on her 950th try.

The aspiring driver spent more than 5 million won (NZ$5836) in application fees, but until now had failed to score the minimum 60 out of a possible 100 points needed to get behind the wheel for a driving test.

Cha Sa-soon, 68, finally passed the written exam with a score of 60 last week, said Choi Young-chul, a police official at the drivers’ licence agency in Jeonju, 210km south of Seoul.

Police said Cha took the test hundreds of times, but had no specific total. Local media said she took the test 950 times.

Now she must pass a driving test before getting her licence, Choi said.

I’ve always wondered why we have a system that says you are a fit driver for life, if say 30 years ago you managed to pass an exam on your tenth go.

If the Government really wanted to make a difference to road safety, they should force motorists to resit their driving licence every five to ten years.

And maybe have a limit on how often you can sit a test and fail, before you can retry.