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My father worked in Alice Springs during the war. He drove large trucks carrying material to extend the length of the airstrip. On his arrival back in Parramatta he thought that he should get a driving licence so he went to the police station. He was asked if he had driven any vehicles and said that he had driven trucks in the N.T. They gave him a class 3 licence without even testing him.
In Riyadh, I used to blast off from the traffic lights to get in front of the locals! [bigsmile]Quote:
Originally Posted by Bigbjorn
Bit like my Tank license, then a truck license...
Started tank course, told Sgt he was wrong about some info he was saying about tank... Raeme Cpl rocked up and told Sgt that I was right and that I had borrowed the Engine Manual while waiting for driver course... Then I made a stupid mistake, told the other 2 on course with me tthat I had worked on stations and home farm, tank was just faster and easier to drive than our dozers... I got to drive less than 4 hours on the course, but as the requirement was 12 or something, all my times had a 1 put in front...
As for the truck, officer asked if I could drive, I laughed(piece of cake), so he suggested I drive to drop off some stuff, on way back I asked if I could take a short cut, he crapped himself when I drove straight off the road over a drop, then across a creek and back up onto the road, saved about a half hour to get back to base... He was the transport officer, gave me a license next day, reconned if I could drive like that without supervision I was well and trully capable of handling the trucks... Never drove another truck in the service, but I didnt tell him I had a truck license already and was legal for roadtrains...
What gets me tho, the 2 on my driver course got there licenses yet couldnt drive a car and scared the crap out of you when they drove, no judgement of distance, no concept of stopping distance and no feel for the controls... Basicly slam the pedals each time... I would never have got back into a vehicle with them if I had a choice, after the course, thankfully, I never had to get into a vehicle with them...
Army licenses can be issued once the examiner has accepted you completed the course and drove to the minimum standard... But the instructor has to able to teach you the bits that are not part of the instructors book and give you those little bits of information that makes you be observant and smooth, if you dont have those skills then your just another wally driving a green vehicle and for th Army, thats all they need to operate, the good drivers are recognised sometines and that can make a difference...
Good typists, well thats impossible..
Could not agree more. It looks completely chaotic, but it works very well. I always believed that the high road toll came from having the whole family, two pigs and a dog on a postie bike, or 14 people in the back of a Rodeo ute, so that any accident will have bigger consequences.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tombie
As for the pedestrian thing, I've walked for miles around Bangkok. If I had behaved the way I would here then my travel insurance would have taken a beating. I just did what the locals do. No problem.