The exam day

On the exam day, one motorcycle will be booked for you for basically the whole afternoon (my exam was in the afternoon, but I believe it should be similar if scheduled in the morning). You will be required to arrive about an hour in advance so you’ll have some more time for a final practice. Once the examiners arrive, here is how it will proceed.

At first, they will ask everyone to line up the same way as you were lining up when waiting for your turn to practice driving 8’s in the slope. The only different thing is they will arrange the order to their liking (I can’t remember if it was alphabetically or not). 2 or 3 examiners will observe you and make sure you do not commit any mistake while doing the “8’s in the slope” exercise. When you complete it (and hopefully pass) the examiners will ask you to go wait for the road trip. Those who fail the “8’s in the slope” will not be able to go.

Once everyone has gone through the “8’s in the slope” and the skimming has been done, the examiners will arrange the motorcycles by category. Usually 650cc are positioned directly behind the examiner who takes the lead, then come the 125cc and the 50cc in the end. While driving, you have to stay RIGHT BEHIND the lead examiner in a straight line. If you deviate either on the right or the left a bit too much to his liking, he will FAIL you. If you overtake him or another student, he will FAIL you. I know the left or right bit seems a bit stupid, why would I want to stay right behind him, what’s the problem in being in his wing a bit? I’ve asked the driving school guy but he just gave me the typical Macau answer: “Those are the rules made by IACM, I don’t make the rules, I just tell you how it is and don’t know the reason, I’m just teaching you how to get your license, once you pass you can do whatever you want on the road…” you get the idea… One last thing, if you can’t keep up and the lead examiner gets too much ahead of you, he will FAIL you too.

Anyway, once you start driving around there should not be any problem as you already know the route, just remember the following:

1. When stopped, always put your LEFT (and left only) foot on the ground.
2. Always keep your RIGHT foot on the brakes.
3. Always signal when turning or stopping along the road.
4. Never stop your motorcycle on a zebra crossing.
5. Watch out for pedestrians.

The first 3 points are quite obvious but let me develop a bit on 4 & 5. As I mentioned earlier, the examiners will arrange the motorcycles by category, which means there will be a fairly long line of motorcycles behind him, meaning you will have to anticipate when stopping. For example, if you’re 20 meters behind the lead examiner and he decides to stop 20 meters after a zebra crossing, that would make you stop right on top of it if you keep the same distance. You have to anticipate this and stop right before it, that’s all. Same thing goes for pedestrians, you have to stop even they’re not crossing the street yet… If they’re just waiting on the sidewalk or getting closer to crossing the street, you have stop and let them go first.

If you understand and execute all this well, you will be holding a brand new Macau driving license at the end of the day. If it was a bad day and you didn’t pass, well no worries, you still can re-take the exam some other time. Be aware that failure has a price though, as it will cost you an extra MOP2,280 to re-apply for the exam (price including 5 extra lessons).

Looking for a school now?

So you’ve read my last post, understood it, followed my advice and setup a budget…? I guess you’re ready to subscribe to a driving school then. It’s not really hard to find one, really, as there’s a plethora of driving schools in Macau. You can find a list over here.

I personally went to Escola Condução Sang Chung Wa (Address: Tak Fok Seaview Gdn Kam Keng Kok in Taipa. Tel: 2882 0655). I had no particular reason for choosing that one over another, it just happened to be near where I reside, which finally didn’t really matter as I never set foot over there after subscribing. At least I was able to find someone who spoke English which helped setting up my application.

I believe most of the schools more or less charge the same, and I know by experience they all practice at the same place and use the same model of motorbikes as well… I’ll tell more about practice sessions in another post.

So if you’re holding a valid Macau driving license, they should charge you as follows:

• Application to driving exam + all related paper works and documents: MOP1,100
• 25 lessons + rental of the motorcycle on exam day: MOP3,250
• Insurance: MOP90
• Total: MOP4,440

You’ll also need to bring your Macau ID card, Macau driving license and 6 ID pictures (size 1.5 inches, in color and with white background). In case you do not hold a Macau ID, you can apply using your passport and work permit (they call it a “blue card” here).

When submitting your application, they will take you to a doctor (included in the price) to check your sight and make sure you’re not colorblind.

One thing that is good to know in advance is that there will be quite a lengthy period of time between the day you apply and your exam. In my case, I applied in April and was scheduled for exam in November… A nice 7 months wait… So basically, although you’ve applied and paid, the school will advise you to wait and start taking your lessons around 2 months before your exam. And you’d better keep good track of time as the school will not contact you and remind you about it.

One more thing not shown above, a MOP10 fee is requested to use the practice range for each lesson taken. Basically, you’ll have to purchase some stamps and get one chopped every time you practice (or two, or three, depending on how long you stay) so it adds MOP250 to the total price, although it is not paid to the school but to IACM (Instituto para os Assuntos Cívicos e Municipais)

Remarks:

• The information/prices shown are up to date on posting day.
• The information/prices shown refer to “A type license for motorcycles of 650cc and over” application.
• The fee related to 25 lessons + rental of the motorcycle on exam day can be paid on application day or later when starting taking the lessons.
• Each lesson lasts 50 minutes.

You are not ready to look for a school just yet…

I had a small hiccup during my application to convert my license to a local one… For some reason, my government decided not to reply to the DSAT’s enquiry regarding my license so they proposed the following to me: “We’ll allow you to have a Macau license to drive cars only, but your other licenses won’t be transferred…”

I felt kind of funny as I had been riding a scooter around for over 7 years without any problem and DSAT was now telling me they thought I was not eligible anymore (something about my country and Macau different requirements when it comes to motorcycles licenses…). So anyway, my only choice to ride legally was to get some lessons and pass the driving test.

I’ll talk about my experience with my driving school and all in a later post… What comes first is a more financial subject that I want to cover as motorcycles’ prices here differ quite a bit when compared to U.S. or Europe… Here are some price ranges for different types of motorcycles:

• 125cc: HKD15,000 to 20,000
• 250cc: HKD35,000 to 60,000
• 400cc: HKD70,000 to 80,000
• 650cc and over: HKD80,000 to 120,000

This short list should give you a better idea of how much money you will have to save to afford your ride. Of course, you may find some exceptions here and there… Also note that I’ve only included prices for street bikes (meaning scooters have been excluded) and this is only for reference…

So take a good look at the prices, go around the different dealers (I’ll give a list and map later on), try to find a bike you like… Once you’ve set your mind and accepted the fact you’ll have to spend that much money on a ride, start looking for a school and subscribe.