I took the test today and passed at the Kaohsiung DMV in Nanzih. Before each test session, the test track was open for people to practice on and lots of people were doing so. There was also another painted course in the car park.
I borrowed their test centre scooter for 21NT and somehow managed to pass without riding the track beforehand. However, I would definitely recommend going with a friend and practicing first, as I went too fast on the straight line first time, and was very lucky not to lose my balance on one of turns!
I took the scooter practical last Friday and failed because my foot touched the ground several times (this was after the narrow section at the beginning). I know how to drive and have driven a car in Taiwan and a scooter elsewhere, I just haven’t driven a scooter recently and am apparently a little rusty.
I don’t already own a scooter and don’t have any close friends in Taiwan who would lend me one, and the DMV confirmed that they won’t rent their scooters for practice, only to take the test. I could probably pass the test if I tried again this Friday, but I really don’t want to risk failing again and having to wait another week.
Is there some other way I can practice the course on a scooter before re-testing again? Can I go to a 駕訓班 and pay them to let me ride on their course for a bit?
do you have a car license? if you do, you are allowed by law to rent or buy a scooter using that same license which has to be equal or lower than 50CC and practice along the way.
I have a California driver’s license, which from what I understand allows me to drive in Taiwan (even without an IDP). I’ve rented a car before (about 2 years ago) in Taiwan using just this license (and didn’t present an IDP to the rental agency IIRC). Do you know if this license allows rental/use of 50cc scooters?
I just called the DMV and they said that I could not drive a scooter (even a 50cc scooter) using my California license (but I can drive a car), so that sounds like it’s not an option either unfortunately
your best bet is try again this Friday, and maybe this time do some meditation to cool your mind beforehand and avoid any sugary drinks and caffeine which could affect your mood
when I had my scooter test like 10 years ago, I remember I was super nervous and made myself chew some gum to take my mind off the situation. At my first try I passed the test with flying colors.
I think everyone, locals included, still just practices with own vehicles in empty carparks. I have never heard of people actually paying to access the driving school practice course, which would explain the hefty fees. When I took the exam back then, I remember having hours of free time between the theory test and the practice, so I just hanged around the course familiarising with the sections. It’s more than enough, TBH. I got confused by the fake traffic light (it turned yellow when I reached the intersection and I thought that I could proceed and cross it) and the officer who was smoking around there even came and gave me tips
I had my own scooter because I had been riding it on IDP previously, but most people there had just borrowed one from their family. I still remember one girl who came with her mum by car and the officer blatantly replied: “Oh, sorry, we have no scooters for exam takers here. Can anyone lend you one?”
I don’t think this is true. I called the DMV in Shilin and asked if I could drive a car in Taiwan with my California’s Driver’s license (without an international driver’s license) and they said yes, I can.
I finally got my scooter license 2 days ago, after failing the road test twice. Third time’s a charm I bought a used Gogoro 2 Plus yesterday and am finally on the road!
I am hereby submitting a formal complaint to the Internet regarding how stupid and unfair Taiwan’s scooter road test is. It’s only loosely related to the actual driving experience (passing the test doesn’t mean you can safely drive on the road, and vice versa—even if you can safely drive a scooter you won’t necessarily pass the test). The test only lasts about 90 seconds, which means that it’s high variance—even with a small number of errors (e.g. 2 separate mistakes) can mean failure simply because the test is so short. The test over-emphasizes balance and control at low speed since the course is a scale miniature of a real roadway. And the worst part is that if you fail, you have to wait a week, then schlep all the way back to Shilin again, which is over 2 hours round-trip if you live in Wenshan like I do. And another problem is that if you don’t have a way to borrow a scooter (e.g. if you just moved to Taiwan and don’t have any local friends) there’s no way to practice for the test (I ended up asking my Chinese tutor to help me rent a GoShare scooter and then go to the test lot in 永和Yǒnghé and wait at the test lot while I practiced).
I wish that the government would allow re-doing the road test within 3 days after failing (or better, on the same day), and that they would re-design the course to be larger and closer to real-world scale (or better, do the road test on real roadways, but obviously this would be drastically more expensive and have safety considerations).
I wouldn’t mind being wrong as it works out for me if so, but here is the info from AIT. Open to correction if I’m misinterpreting it, but a rental car service turned me down recently even with an IDP.
I bought a used Gogoro 2 Plus yesterday and am finally on the road!