That's what they call it? Sudden death, for a driving test? Think they could have come up with a better name.
If you make one mistake, they terminate the test, and you have to take it again.
Obi and Hilda can fill in the details, but I understand that it requires complete understanding of the rules of the road, local geography, emergency maintenance, and the proper operation and use of the vehicle. Far more comprehensive than anything here in the US. You have to lift the bonnet and point out where all the fluids go and what they are. A lot of the people I know don’t even know where the hood release is on their car.
I took my UK driving test long before automatic transmissions became standard. Many of the required driving skills involved gear changing. I don't know how today's tests reflect computer-assisted braking and other features of modern cars.
The skills I had to demonstrate were:
- Emergency braking: The examiner chose a long stretch of empty road, told you to maintain a cruising speed of around 30 mph until he slapped his thigh. You had to bring the car to a complete stop without skidding or stalling. (And without forgetting to glance in the rear-view mirror before hitting the brake.)
- Three-point turn: Reversing the car in a narrow street.
- Right-angle reverse: Back smoothly into a side street and park the car parallel to the pavement not more than about six inches from the kerb. (Can't remember the exact distance. The examiner always carried a tape measure for borderline cases.)
- Park the car on an uphill slope, then move off without stalling the engine or rolling back.
Even if you could demonstrate all the above, there was another requirement that caught out many learners: Keeping up with the flow of traffic. Too slow, too fast, or too erratic and you'd get the dreaded pink slip.
When I was living in Chapel Hill I had an international licence but read that recognition of such a licence was a jurisdictional thing, so I opted to take the NC test. My experience was probably not representative. As I pulled out of the DMV parking lot, the examiner said, "I see you've done this before," and we spent the next fifteen minutes driving around the back streets having a lovely chat about countries we'd visited. The examiner had been an air force brat and had lived in dozens of places. He also told me that it was his last day at that particular DMV centre, and I was his last examinee. He'd been promoted to the head office in Durham.