Want to drive? – Get a driving license!
That’s what the famous saying is like nowadays. But driving a car is not like sledging. It takes 7 or more months to get a driving license in Minsk. The time includes getting a medical certificate, waiting in a queue to enter a driving school, the education itself and exams at the State Traffic Inspectorate. The European Radio decided to find out where and why so much of our time is spent.
Before sending an application to a driving school one has to go through a medical check-up. For a long time it was possible to do it only at polyclinic #24 where there were long queues.
At the end of 2006 it became possible to get the necessary certificate at every central district polyclinic including polyclinic #33 for students from other cities. The situation should have improved.
But, according to the deputy administrator of Minsk City Executive Committee Health Department Vyachaslau Shyla, it will soon be possible to go through a medical check-up only at polyclinic #24.
“We had to send our commissions to different polyclinics because there was not enough room at polyclinic #24. But there are people who need medical care at district polyclinics.
So, a special polyclinic for driving commissions is an ideal way out”.
By the way, polyclinic #24 has been moved to another building, far from the city centre - to Filimonau Street, 53. The new building belongs to the medical department of Vavilau Plant. It is hard to say what is better because even district commissions nave not make it easier to get a medical certificate.
We were informed about the process at student polyclinic #33:
“First you have to go to the psycho neurological clinic at Behtserau Street and get a certificate there. Then you go to the narcological dispensary at Gastela Street, 16 to take a certificate too.
Then you take the two certificates and your military ID or draft card and come to us. Then you sign a contract and pay a fee of 11 thousand BRB at the before-doctor room. But you have to apply in advance”.
Yes, you have to apply in advance – at least a month before you come. Queues at driving schools are even longer. Today you can only apply for the end of spring or the beginning of summer.
“We are forming the morning group for April 17, the week end group for May 19 and the evening group for May 29. All the previous groups are already full”.
You can hear a similar response everywhere. That’s why it takes at least seven months to get a driving license in Minsk: one month is necessary to get a medical certificate, three months to get a place at a driving school and the education and exams take at least three months.
It would be nice if such issues could at least improve the culture of driving.
Photo by photo.bymedia.net
Before sending an application to a driving school one has to go through a medical check-up. For a long time it was possible to do it only at polyclinic #24 where there were long queues.
At the end of 2006 it became possible to get the necessary certificate at every central district polyclinic including polyclinic #33 for students from other cities. The situation should have improved.
But, according to the deputy administrator of Minsk City Executive Committee Health Department Vyachaslau Shyla, it will soon be possible to go through a medical check-up only at polyclinic #24.
“We had to send our commissions to different polyclinics because there was not enough room at polyclinic #24. But there are people who need medical care at district polyclinics.
So, a special polyclinic for driving commissions is an ideal way out”.
By the way, polyclinic #24 has been moved to another building, far from the city centre - to Filimonau Street, 53. The new building belongs to the medical department of Vavilau Plant. It is hard to say what is better because even district commissions nave not make it easier to get a medical certificate.
We were informed about the process at student polyclinic #33:
“First you have to go to the psycho neurological clinic at Behtserau Street and get a certificate there. Then you go to the narcological dispensary at Gastela Street, 16 to take a certificate too.
Then you take the two certificates and your military ID or draft card and come to us. Then you sign a contract and pay a fee of 11 thousand BRB at the before-doctor room. But you have to apply in advance”.
Yes, you have to apply in advance – at least a month before you come. Queues at driving schools are even longer. Today you can only apply for the end of spring or the beginning of summer.
“We are forming the morning group for April 17, the week end group for May 19 and the evening group for May 29. All the previous groups are already full”.
You can hear a similar response everywhere. That’s why it takes at least seven months to get a driving license in Minsk: one month is necessary to get a medical certificate, three months to get a place at a driving school and the education and exams take at least three months.
It would be nice if such issues could at least improve the culture of driving.
Photo by photo.bymedia.net
