Canadutch
This piece of pink paper has been causing me serious anxiety lately.
It’s a Dutch drivers license and dammit I want one!
When I first moved to the Netherlands I had my Canadian DL for almost 10 years already. Before moving here I got an international DL which was good for 6 months after moving here.
We didn’t have a car so we’d just rent one off and on during that time. Driving here was different, for sure… but I was a very experienced driver and after driving in downtown Toronto while living there, I wasn’t that fussed.
Once the six months was up, I could no longer legally drive in the Netherlands. Without a car it seemed pointless for me to get my license and without Xander getting his, a car wasn’t an option. He could get a company car which was better for us as we couldn’t afford to just go out and buy / lease one at the time.
He was a true Dutchie though, loving his public transit (which was the bane of my existance) and over the last 7 years we have fought about it approx four milliion times. Finally ending in him giving in and getting his DL this past August and our first car in September.
Now, of course, he LOVES to drive…
So now it’s time for me to get mine. My Canadian license has since expired, which doesn’t make a difference anyway because it is not valid here and I can’t just trade it in. The Netherlands doesn’t just accept the Canadian license and they force us to have to do like new drivers… taking the lessons and the test here like any other new driver.
Now, I’m after not driving for over six years. I’ve never been a nervous driver.. in fact, I’ve always been a very confident and agressive driver… which is good here. I haven’t driven in so long though, I’m a bit nervous.
I’m not nervous about driving. If they just handed me my license I would just drive and go on with my business here. What I’m nervous about is having to take those damn lessons, and especially the TEST!
Rotterdam is the most hellish city to drive in and we have the highest driving test failure rate. Xander failed twice before he got his license and the 2nd time they failed him it was because he hesitated for 2 seconds when merging on the highway. Literally, 2 seconds… and that was his only mistake.
If it was just a matter of failing, fine… but they charge you over 250 euros PER TEST.
So here I am, 31 years old… been driving since I was 16 and am being forced to take lessons and a driving test if I want to drive here. If I failed, I’d die of embarassment and probably flip out about the money wasted.
There is a sort of ‘fast track’ test for people who have driven in the past. People like Canadians and Americans who have had their license for years and want to drive here, but I can’t do that because during the time I’ve been fighting with Xander to get his license and a car, my Canadian license expired. Without that I can’t have this special test.
I also can’t just get a new license by mail because it has been expired longer than the allotted time so I’d have to go back to Canada to get my license renewed.
Bah, what a pain in the ass. I want to drive here so badly but at the same time I’m brutally anxious and nervous about this whole lessons / test thing.
I guess the only way to get over it is to start the lessons and see how it goes. God, how I miss Canada and learning to drive with friends and relatives before taking a piss-easy test.
Oh I feel for you! I got my little pink piece of paper on my birthday this year. I was nervous during the lessons and nervous during the test but I passed first time. I didn’t do so well with the theory tho – failed 5 x by 1 point! Yikes! They asked me if I was going for a new world record.
Now we have a car and I love it. Hubby doesn’t drive and won’t so I am sole proprieter of the car keys :)
Good luck with it!
I guess I’m lucky then. I moved over here from the UK almost 6 years ago and, because UK are part of the EU, all I had to do was go and swap my English licence for a Dutch one. All I can say is THANK GOD!
I’m nervous on the Dutch roads, yeah even after driving here for 6 years. It’s just different… eek
Good luck
Mandy
I don’t drive, and I’m far too nervous to learn although i keep promising hubby i will. Good luck on passing that test, thats an extortionate price to pay!
Ugh, don’t you just hate those bureaucracy rules? But I’m sure you’ll do just fine, once you get past the little nervousness. Good luck!
I’ve calculated the difference between going home and renewing and then doing the fast-track test, but the thing is, that test isn’t cheap either. It’s just a test where they take it more into consideration that you aren’t a new driver. In fact, if memory serves, it’s actually MORE expensive than the new driver test BECAUSE it’s a special one.
Staci – I’m totally with you on that and I have considered it. The problem though, it’s not just about getting a ticket but about insurance as well. The car we have is a company car that Xander gets through work. If I were driving without a valid dutch DL and was in an accident.. we’d be SCREWED!!
As much as it sucks, the safest and smartest thing for me to do at the moment is suck it up and do the lessons and test. At least I can be thankful that I won’t need as many lessons as a new driver, rather some ‘brush up’ lessons to be sure I am confident that I know all of the rules of the road here.
My parallel parking could probably use some work too :P
Do the math on this one, too…how much is the ticket for not having a valid Dutch license? More or less than it costs to take the test a couple of times? :)
I think you’re safe to drive with a valid Canadian license. Just pick one up next time you visit home. I happen to know expats in Holland (no names) who are using their home country license, and just risking it.
Breaking the law!
Hello fellow CanaDutch – I plan to do the same as you.WE both share the same life experiences.. I try to keep up my Canadian DL as well as my passport so I may use it when I am there.. Now driving in the Netherlands looks very nerve racking as there are smaller roads, highways and a lot MORE traffic..
But anyway, good luck with your lessons.. I look forward to NOT bumping into you on the road *wink*.. Please show them that a Canadian can make the test – the first time around..*wink*
Yeah that would be a pain in the ass for sure, I dunno If i could take the tests over again and become a “new ” driver again. Def somethign you’ll have to tihnk bout with the cost to takethe tests over there, that’s nuts. Good luck with it.
you should do the math, maybe it would turn out cheaper to fly to Canadia and renew you license, then do the accelerated test than it would to do all the lessons etc. The you get to go home for a FREE HOLIDAY!
Picture the instructor in his underwear.
Or, if you prefer, picture Dutchy in her underwear.
Or better yet, picture Dutchy in the instuctor’s underwear!
I know exactly how you feel on the Dutch system… I am Dutch and I even had to take both the theoretical and the practical test twice… No such thing as learning to drive with relatives and friends… although… my Mum might not have been the best option, but don’t tell her… Shhhh….
And I hear ya on the Rotterdam traffic. It is the worst. It is like driving in the middle of Rome with rain….
Wow, that sounds like a real pain. I’m glad that a) our Canadian drivers’ licenses were valid when we moved to Germany, and that b) my husband is here as a member of the Canadian Forces, so we had to write a written test to prove we were familiar with German driving rules and regulations, and then we were issued Canadian Forces Europe drivers’ licenses.
We don’t have German DLs, but fortunately, the German system recognizes our Canadian Forces Europe DLs.
Good luck with the driving lessons and testing.