Features

Woman corrects state driver’s license test

The Associated Press
Saturday January 27, 2001

OXNARD – Rose Burgess played red-light, green-light with the California Department of Motor Vehicles after she was told she incorrectly answered one of the questions on her renewal test. 

The Oxnard woman was given Test No. 8, one of 10 given annually to about 3 million Californians who renew their licenses each year. 

Question No. 13 read: Your wheels should be pointed straight ahead, unless you are: 1) Waiting to make a left turn at a traffic light; 2) Parked on a hill or sloping driveway; 3) Parked on the side of a level roadway and there is no curb. 

Burgess marked the second answer, but a DMV official said it was wrong and insisted the correct answer was No. 3. Burgess, a senior citizen, pulled out the California Driver Handbook 2000, turned to page 26, and showed the examiner she was correct. 

The examiner brushed her off, so Burgess took the matter to an administrator. 

The test was corrected Monday throughout the state. “We will no longer mark the answer wrong,” said Bill Branch, a spokesman for the DMV. “We regret the error. Very few errors slip by us.” 

Burgess told the Ventura County Star that she just wanted to do the right thing. “Something was wrong, I investigated it. I wanted to help other people,” she said. 

For the record, Burgess only missed one other question out of 18 and the state allows people renewing their licenses to miss three questions.