On the 4th of December 2022, Tatiana Lin shared her grueling process of obtaining her Taiwan driver's license on her YouTube channel. She admitted that she used to have a driver's license in Ukraine at the age of 18. However, at that time she could only get it by paying for it, as she had never taken any official driving lessons before. As soon as she arrived in Taiwan, she noticed how many motorcycles were on the road, how fast everyone drove, and how different the examination system was!
After much deliberation, and 5 years of living in Taiwan, Tatiana decided to sign up for driving classes. After a month of attending these classes, she took the written test. Unfortunately for her, the only option she had was to take the test in Chinese as she could barely understand English – and therefore, also failed the written test in Chinese, twice. After two unsuccessful attempts, she finally passed the written test on her third attempt.
During the practical driving examination, she failed to receive her license two more times, and once more on her third try. This is because she forgot to pull the parking brake and put the car into neutral. Tatiana couldn't help but break down and cry in her video. "I didn't pass again!
Her fourth, and final appointment started out positive – Tatiana joked about how smart she is remembering to bring her ARC and identity documents, and she finally got through the road test without any major mistakes. She was clearly delighted to finally walk out of the DMV with her Taiwan driver’s license! Tatiana laughed at herself, saying that she couldn’t believe that she started this whole process months ago, and that she only received her license in November!
At the end of her video, she asked the driving coach whether foreigners found it more difficult to take the test. The coach said that some foreigners are not too bad because they have had lessons in the past. However, they also struggle quite a bit because of the language barriers they experience with their trainers, and written examinations.
Watch her video in the link:
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If you'd like to save yourself the trouble of going through what Tatiana did, follow the links below:
Car License Program – Taipei City
Car License Program – New Taipei City
Car License Program – Taichung
Written Test Preparation – Scooter