- Thread starter eb16rb4
- Start date
Obtain Dominican Drivers License
The driving part of the test was easy. Do as you say and you'll pass. I made a left turn out of the parking lot, made four right turns going around the block, and a left back into the parking lot. Five minutes and I was done.
The funny thing was, the test car, which was fairly new, had a large dent in the rear from an accident!
I don't see how it is possible to pay the administrator to pass you before the test. First of all, there is more than one person involved in processing you. Secondly the scoring is done by the computer instantaneously and the results appear on the monitor as soon as you finish the test advising you of your score and whether or not you passed. I don't know what the minimum passing score is.
Based on previous posts, it appears that the days of having someone assist you with the test have ended, and it seems that bribing someone would be at best difficult due to the fact that multiple people are involved in the process and it is done publicly with a crowd looking on. I have no interest in sitting in a driver education class and listening to Spanish instruction that I cannot understand. I suspect that might be helpful for Dominicans who cannot read the manual, but I doubt it would help me much. Unless someone here thinks that the instructor can actually give me the test answers in advance, I will probably simply give it another whack to see how I do next time. And yes, I do understand key Spanish words such as infraction, prohibited, ticket, and correct.
I have already told you from my personal experience, that attending the class will enable you to pass the test even if you speak or understand very little Spanish.
The class is not a real class to teach people the rules of the road, it is a class geared towards passing the test. It lasts about 30 minutes. They use actual test questions and show you how to interpret what is being asked by listening for only key words. You only need to remember about 8 or 10 words for maybe an hour while you wait your turn to rewrite the test. I was the only gringo in my class of about 10 people. After each important statement, the instructor looked directly at me and asked if I understood. If I said no, he drew a picture, and very slowly repeated the scenario using gestures and only the key words in the question, if I still got the wrong answer he would correct me with Si or No. I only needed the key words to pass the test as just like you, I assumed, the rules of the road that I knew from past driving experience apply here and they do, except for the horn and the livestock question.
With the 10 or so key words fresh in your mind, you can easily pass the test. So, take the class and then go rewrite or don't, it's up to you based on how badly you want to have a DR license.
The class is not a real class to teach people the rules of the road, it is a class geared towards passing the test. It lasts about 30 minutes. They use actual test questions and show you how to interpret what is being asked by listening for only key words. You only need to remember about 8 or 10 words for maybe an hour while you wait your turn to rewrite the test. I was the only gringo in my class of about 10 people. After each important statement, the instructor looked directly at me and asked if I understood. If I said no, he drew a picture, and very slowly repeated the scenario using gestures and only the key words in the question, if I still got the wrong answer he would correct me with Si or No. I only needed the key words to pass the test as just like you, I assumed, the rules of the road that I knew from past driving experience apply here and they do, except for the horn and the livestock question.
With the 10 or so key words fresh in your mind, you can easily pass the test. So, take the class and then go rewrite or don't, it's up to you based on how badly you want to have a DR license.
I did mine in Nauga, they allowed my interperter with me although he could not see the screen. The actual drive test was a hoot. there car, I was on a one way street with on coming traffic both car and motocycle - street was clearly marked one way. I did have to do parelell parking, but after watching the dominicans just pull in the spot front frist and there done I was not worried.
That must have been the mobile unit that is based in RSJ....
it comes to Cabrera too
I do my renewals there (RSJ)... easy
it comes to Cabrera too
I do my renewals there (RSJ)... easy
Ok Cdn_Gringo, thanks for clarifying that. I will take your advise and do the class. I didn't realize it was that easy. Should I simply show up at the school on the same day that I take my exam, or should I go before then?
Up to you. Rather than have to go into town twice, maybe do the class the same day you go back to retake your test. Where are you doing this, in Puerto Plata or elsewhere? In POP, the classes are held in the school building a short distance behind the licensing office. Make a morning of it. Approach the group of men hanging around the entrance to the licensing office parking lot, tell them you just need the class and they will set you up. Negotiate the price. If not in POP, I'm sure there is a similar group of people just outside each licencing office.
Like last time, have your receipts for paid fees and find out if you need to submit a newer version of your buena conducta or whatever.
Like last time, have your receipts for paid fees and find out if you need to submit a newer version of your buena conducta or whatever.
My experience was that very few of things covered in the class were on the exam I took. They passed out a drivers manual and I took advantage of the 45 minutes I had to wait before the test to speed read through the manual. That helped more than the class did. Many of the questions on the test were pretty much common sense - just the way some of them were presented was a little confusing to me.
Yes, I'm doing this in Puerto Plata. I remember seeing the school behind the licensing building when I was there yesterday, and I also remember there were some guys hanging around at the entrance to the test building. I have no interest in making 2 trips there, so I will plan to do everything on the same day.
The document that I was given for retesting says that I need to present a new Certificate of Good Conduct if the one that I previously submitted is more than 30 days old (it won't be), and that I need to begin this process all over again if I wait more than a year for retesting. So it appears that the only thing I need to do before I go for retesting is to pay the 200 peso retest fee at Banreservas. Although the document given to me says to return on March 11 for retesting, I wonder if there is any reason why I can't show up earlier for the retest.
I was surprised that they provided a little car for me to take the test in. It was automatic, so I told the examiner that I could drive manual and got a licence that says "Restricciones - Ninguna" (Restrictions - none) so I assume I'm allowed to drive anything.
Yup, anything.
I actually had to change cars when i took the test, as the 1st car was automatic. ( and i wanted the manual too, just in case ).
The Santo Domingo office is down the street from the place on the other side of the autopista on the right. You cannot miss it.