The law should state that if you are unable to fill out the form to renew your license or apply for a new one then you’re unfit to drive a car.

One of the reasons for my trip to George this weekend was to get a date for my Learners License. Why I had to go to George to do this is complicated and will be a story for another day, I promise.

So while standing in the queue waiting to do the “eye test” I got to see the comings and goings in the traffic department. There are essentially 3 forms available in the licensing department, a blue one which is the application for leaners license form, the green one which is a application for a license or to renew a license and a yellow one which I think was for a PDP license.

The forms are all written in English & Afrikaans (2 of the 11 official languages of South Africa.) and are relatively simple to fill out. What amazed me was the number of people who couldn’t work out what they had to fill in or got everything completely wrong. There were at least 2 old ladies who got everything completely muddled up and even a guy younger then me who filled in about 5 forms incorrectly before a friend helped him out.

What scares me is these people are soon going to be driving on our roads. In the case of the two old ladies they are already driving on our roads and were merely renewing their license. I think there should be a simple law that if you’re unable to fill out the form on your own or with limited help from the lady behind the glass window you’re unfit to drive or even learn to drive.