maxaroni
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2005
- Messages
- 3,120
When I did my driving test in Barbados in 1985 the first part of the test (which you had to pass before they even let you on the road!) required the driver to back into a parking space with poles along both sides, from each direction. You got 2 tries each side. The examiner would measure where your car ended up relative to the poles, and you had to be dead centre. Yeah, we got really good at backing into parking spaces! I think they may have recently done away with "the poles", which I think is a huge mistake. We have some tight parking lots here that have big signs that say "please park facing outwards", and it is expected in school parking lots as well (much safer). The next generations are going to suck at it now that it is no longer tested. By the way, we don't learn to parallel park as part of our test - it has never been considered important.
Are you Bajan? Funny story....I went to Barbados way back in the 70s with a girlfriend. We had a great time, rented a car and went all over the island. Fast forward to 3 yrs ago, went with DH. We rented a car at our hotel and trying to get out of the parking spot, DH hit the curb and took out the shroud (?). Okay, finally got on the road and heading to Bridgeton. I kept saying he was too far over and going to hit the curb. Sure enough...kept hitting the curb. He couldn't get the hang of left sided driving. We managed throughout the day and got a bit better. We were headed back to Bridgeton for dinner and got all twisted in the dark, no street signs, etc., had a minor traffic accident. We opted to turn the car in and end the driving. To make matters worse, we decided to do a 360 tour and at one of the cemeteries/churches we were stopped at, I was taking a picture, backed up, tripped over curbing and fractured my wrist. What an eventful trip. But, we still had a wonderful time.



