This concerns my son, Henry, who just recently returned from serving in the Army.
After returning home, he found he had lost his drivers license.
He took what identification he did have and headed down to the Secretary of State office. There they issued a permit, with instruction that he needed to take a raod test to get his license. This did not seem like a big deal, since he had been issued a license in North Carolina, where he had been stationed, and was licensed to drive various Army vehicles.
The Secretary of State in Michigan does not give road tests, but hands out a sheet of paper, listing privately owned and operated testing services. He made an appointment to go to Escanaba where we met a guy in the back parking lot of a company. He proceeded to put up cones he retrieved from the back of his pickup. I was not allowed to go on the test drive.
After about 20 minutes of waiting in this parking lot, they came back in my car. My son said he failed. I asked how in the heck he failed. He said the guy told him to make a left hand turn on the street they where driving on, Stephenson Ave. Henry did as he was told and the guy said he failed because he did not make the turn from the turning lane.
After his test, I took a drive to where my son had told me the guy said he failed. Not only is there not a turn lane, but there arent't even any center lines on that street.
What really gets me is that the cost of the test was $35.00 for less than a half an hour of driving. He was told he can take the test again within 24 hours, but would have to pay another $35.00. The Statewide Road Skills Testing Organizations sheet he was issued clearly states that these services are NOT regulated by the Department of State.
Bottom line is these people, if they are having a bad day or short on cash this week, can fail anyone and there is no recoil.
Contacted the State Police to see if they are in fact regulated by anyone, and was told they take a one week course to be eligible to give the test and that is ALL! They answer to no one. I wonder how many other people were ripped off by these guys?
By the way, my son besides holding two other licenses, did take Drivers Ed in school and was issued his certificate before entering the Army.
Susan
Rapid River, Michigan
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