In the past 9 years, a man from southern Poland had attempted the written portion of the driving test multiple times without success, finally passing on his 139th attempt. However, his joy was short-lived as he still needed to pass the road test. If he fails the road test, he will have to retake the entire process.
According to the report from TVP World, the man passed the written test earlier this month at the Małopolska Road Traffic Centre in Tarnów, a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
In Poland, individuals seeking a driver’s license must first pass a computer-based written test before being eligible to take the practical road test. The fee for each written test is approximately 13 euros (15 US dollars), while the road test costs 53 euros (61 US dollars). There is no limit to the number of attempts allowed for both the written and road tests.
The man had been taking the written test since 2017. Up until his successful attempt, he had spent around 1,800 euros (2,081 US dollars), not including the cost of the upcoming road test. He is currently waiting to take the road test.
Paweł Gurgul, the director of the Małopolska Road Traffic Centre, stated that the man did not give up on the exams, indicating that obtaining a driver’s license was very important to him.
After conversing with the man, Gurgul learned that he had been using a “trial version” question bank to prepare for the written test. Upon switching to a complete question bank with all the questions, the man’s scores gradually improved, with fewer mistakes made, leading to his eventual passing.
While it took the man 139 attempts to pass the written test, this is not the highest number of retakes for a driving test in Poland. In the central city of Piotrków Trybunalski, someone took 163 attempts over 17 years to finally pass.
Authorities at the Małopolska Road Traffic Centre mentioned that retakes are quite common at their facility, with some individuals needing 71 road test attempts before succeeding.
Cases of individuals persevering through multiple attempts like the man mentioned above have also been seen in other countries.
In the UK, a man took 158 written test attempts and spent a total of 3,634 pounds (4,972 US dollars) before passing, as reported by Epoch Times in 2021. According to statistics from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in the UK, this was the highest number of retakes for a written test in the country.