Q. I’m seeking your guidance, if you would be so kind. I have an elderly parent who is trying to pass his exam, but for some reason he can’t pass it. He is not computer literate. I’ve printed the sample exams for him, but still no success. Any help you can provide would be very appreciated.
– Paul Maldonado, Yorba Linda
A. Dad doesn’t need to pass what was once called the “written test” for a driver’s license renewal and is now called the “knowledge test,” Paul, although real basic computer skills are required.
Instead, he can use the Department of Motor Vehicles’ interactive eLearning course in that test’s place, if eligible and renewing the basic Class C license most drivers have. Designed for folks who have troubles with tests, or just want to try something else, it should take 45 minutes or so to finish on a home computer.
The course has a quiz for each of seven sections.
This isn’t like a field goal attempt with the clock running out and the defense charging toward the kicker – the user can take the quizzes as many times as desired.
And those going through the course can take a break, just as long as they finish the course within a year.
At this point, though, it is only available in English.
The knowledge test, meanwhile, is available in 35 languages from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, except on holidays, on a computer. A webcam is required so the test taker can be monitored. If you fail the test twice, the third attempt must be in a DMV office.
Q. Hi Honk: Why did the 405 Freeway construction take away the loop off-ramps at Beach Boulevard? Those off-ramps provided a smoother exit and reduced congestion.
– Lloyd Joly, Huntington Beach
A. Honk reached out to the Orange County Transportation Authority, which is overseeing the $2.2 billion effort to widen and improve the 405 between the 73 and the 605 Freeway that is to be finished before year’s end.
And, well, let’s just say the agency has a different take than yours, Lloyd.
“The configuration of the ramps at Beach Boulevard was redesigned from a full cloverleaf to a partial cloverleaf,” Joel Zlotnik, an OCTA spokesman, told Honk in an email. “The new design reduces weaving and merging between ramps, in turn improving safety and traffic flow and reducing congestion.”
HONKIN’ FACT: Alerted by a 911 call, an officer in Nebraska a couple of weeks ago pulled over a modified Ford Crown Victoria that had a full-size bull riding in the area usually reserved for the front passenger seat, The Associated Press reported. Half of the car’s windshield and roof have been cut away to allow Howdy Doody to show off during parades. It was unclear why Howdy Doody was not in a trailer this time, as he wasn’t in a parade, but it was clear there were some traffic violations in play, a police spokesman said. Still, the officer told the driver to just take his pal home and consider the traffic stop a warning.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk. X, formerly known as Twitter: @OCRegisterHonk
