I lived in the Maryland/DMV area for the first 21 years of my life and I can say without a doubt that the majority of drivers in that beautiful portion of the country are fucking terrible. Have you ever driven on the beltway? You should. It’s an experience that’s comparable to getting your testicles chopped off and then fed to you through a straw laced with menstrual blood. There can be 0 accidents and no construction whatsoever going on and there will still be traffic. Why? Because people are fucking stupid and slow down whenever the road curves. The speed limit is 55-65 people, you can fucking take a wide turn at that speed.
So what does Maryland do? They take parallel parking off their driver’s license test. Not that it matters – no one I know from Maryland can properly parallel park despite having passed their license test. Hell, my boyfriend can’t even take a right turn without jumping onto the curb and he’s knocked the driver’s side mirror off my car twice because he seems to love backing into stationary objects in plain sight.
Good times, everyone, good times.
According to Buel Young, spokesperson for the MVA, the administration determined that completing a two-point turn and backing up are similar enough to parallel parking to eliminate the parking element from the test.
“The MVA consistently evaluates its assessments of both the knowledge and skills tests. In analyzing the skills test, it was determined that the currently used 2-point reverse turn, when combined with the on-road portions or the test, adequately assessed the individual’s ability to operate the vehicle,” Young told MYMCMedia Tuesday.(via)
I don’t see how making a two-point turn is similar to parallel parking, and had I not learned how to do it for my license test I never would’ve been able to park anywhere in Brooklyn for the hellish 5 months I lived there. Whatever – it’s not like DMV drivers can get any worse at this point anyway.
[H/T MYMC Media]