My aunt had held a French driving licence for over thirty years, and had regularly driven in Paris and Antwerp. When my uncle retired from the British army, they moved to Hull to be near their son. Jack had had a British licence for years, but Katie had to take a test to get a British licence.
She arrived at the test centre in a left-hand drive Hillman Minx with Belgian plates, which gave the examiner a bit of a shock. However, he tested her on hand signals – which he was required to do in a LHD car – and the test went ahead … for about five minutes. He then instructed her to pull in to the kerb, and said: ‘Mrs ------, this is a complete waste of time; you’re a better driver than I am. Let’s go for a coffee so we don’t get back to the centre too soon.’