A new driver in the house

May 24, 2009 - 8:16 PM by David · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life

driving I recently posted a status update on my Facebook account announcing that my 17-year-old daughter had passed her driving test, and we were now a four-driver family. The reactions were interesting – most of the Israeli responses were enthusiastic ‘mazal tovs’ while most of the American reactions were tempered with ‘oh dears’ and ‘why are you Israelis so happy, there’s another teen driver on the road.’

Well, we are quite happy for her, especially since it was her third test. That’s no reflection on her driving, as most young drivers here fail repeatedly at the hands of the driving instructors, who seem to follow their whim as to what the criteria is on a given day. It’s a wonder that Israeli drivers are as reckless and undisciplined as they are considering how much more difficult it is to acquire a license here than in the West.

After the first two tests, and 28 lessons with an instructor, we had to tell her she was on her own, and if she wanted another test, she’d have to finance it herself. Which she did, which I’m sure added to the satisfaction of the moment for her.

The other reason we’re not upset at all, is that despite having four drivers, we only have one car. So realistically, her actual driving time isn’t going to amount to much for the time being. Plus, she’s required to drive with a parent in the car for the first year. So, despite the young driver, we’ve still got her at arms’ length for a while.

Of course, it would be nice to be able to send her to the makolet for some milk and bread, or take her brother to his guitar lesson. But by the time she’ll be able to do that, she’ll be in the army – where maybe she’ll learn how to drive a tank.

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