danger on the roads

Florence took, and passed, her road test today, so she's a licensed driver in Massachusetts. I already knew that it's nearly impossible to fail the test (although we were told that if you tell the state trooper testing you to put on a seat belt, you fail automatically) but it seems like a little more skill could be required. She had to show the hand signals (which she messed up the first time, but the trooper perceived that it was a slip of the tongue and gave her another chance). She had to drive around the block, do a three point turn, back straight alongside the curb, and answer a couple of questions (like "what do you do if you hear a siren?"). The kid being tested before her had to parallel park, as well, but they didn't ask Florence to do that. So she could take the now expensively insured instrument of death out on the highways without ever having actually merged before. Along with many others, which is the real problem. She is unskilled but at least cautious and thoughtful, something not universally true of new drivers.