I was riding behind a drivers license applicant and evaluator (unbeknownst to me at the time). We were both signaling to turn right at the upcoming intersection. Once they reached the intersection, they braked harder, straightened their wheels, and almost came to a complete stop in the intersection. I figured they were simply lost (either way, it was dangerous for them to stop in an intersection). While staying behind the car, I hesitantly went right, waiting to see to which direction they would commit, and I gave them a honk as to say "hey, you need to keep moving." They slowly went forward but then stopped in the middle of the street again, even though they had a clear path into the driveway to the DMV. I went to the right to get out of the middle of the street and I gave them another honk, much more agitated this time. The car very slowly continued and then stopped a third time in the middle of the driveway. I slowly followed and kept my distance, trying to get out of the street as quickly as possible. The car indicated a right turn into the parking lot and also drove as if committing to that direction. I checked the right traffic (camera-view blocked by my helmet) and slowly went to the left and parked in the motorcycle parking area. The evaluator came out and started yelling at me, saying that she took control of the wheel because she assumed I was going to try to cut them off, which the footage shows I clearly never did. She took down my license plate number and said she would try to get my license revoked for being unsafe, which was completely ridiculous. If anything, the evaluator was being unsafe by trapping me dead stopped in moving traffic *three* times. As for cutting them off when they made the left turn inside the parking lot, I can honestly say that it was an honest mistake caused by their unpredictable driving patterns. They were signaling right and they were driving in that direction. The driver's behavior was erratic and gave the impression that they either didn't know where they were going or that they didn't know how to drive. I had no way of knowing that they were going to swing left behind me when they were already committing to go right. The footage clearly shows that I wasn't in any hurry or trying to cut anyone off. Furthermore, the evaluator was obviously not using her brain because if she were, she would've noticed that I was wearing full gear during the hottest day of the year so far (over 100º). Shouldn't that show her where my priorities are? I wasn't riding unsafely, but I do get impatient when people stop in the middle of the road for no reason. It's unsafe and inefficient. As for what happened afterwards, I didn't include it because it was pointless and I had stopped recording anyway. She refused to speak to me anymore and just walked back to the silver car and shut the door. I made a few phone calls as soon as I got home and I ended up speaking to the branch and regional managers for that DMV location. Once I shared what happened and mentioned my video camera, they were quick to issue me an apology and assure me that there will be no issue with my driving record or license. Last note: for those of you who will say that I should have given the drivers license applicant more grace because they are new, I have this response: if you are supposed to be taking a test that authorizes you to operate a motor vehicle on public streets, you should already be competent enough to drive that vehicle smoothly and correctly. If you can't do that, then you shouldn't be on the roads with the potential to get a lot of people hurt or killed, including us motorcyclists who are the most common victims of driver unawareness.

• published: 05 Sep 2013
• views: 112