I have my Driving Theory test tomorrow morning. Supposedly forty minutes worth of screen tapping in order to get the 30/35 questions correct that will enable me to take my Practical test before my end-of-September deadline.

I know, I know. I'm a little old to be finally learning to drive. In my defence I live on an Island 30 miles long by 15 miles wide with great public transport.

I, like many folks, assumed that the Theory Test would be realtively easy. Stopping distance at 70mph is such and such, that sign means I can expect to see elderly or disabled folks crossing the road soon, that sort of thing.

Not so! On a whim I purchased the LDC Learn2Drive course for the PC and ran through a few of the mock exams.

I am glad I did.

Sure, the signposts and stopping distance questions are still a breeze. As are the "Do you A) Wave your fists and sound your horn or B) Try to stay calm when a motorist pulls out on you?" questions.

It's the more obscure ones that trip you up. Questions such as:

"In which book will you find a list of Disabled Motoring organisations?"

or

"You have broken down. How far away from the vehicle must you place a triangular reflective warning sign?"

Turns out my wife's car actually does have a reflective triangular warning sign underneath the spare tire. But I digress.

The first mock exam I did from the DVD I managed to score 28 out of 35. That would have been a Fail and was a bit of a wake up call.

My mistake was that I assumed the Theory would be similar to those I've helped friends and family revise for in the past. I've known that little Highway Code booklet verbatim for a while now and I'd wager it would be enough if the exam was still taken verbally at the side of the road with the examiner, or  hand-written and hand-marked.

The new CBT style exams requires a different approach to revision than simple memorisation, especially because they're so inflexible as to what the right answer is, so I've rearranged a bit of work, swapped some overtime around and settled down to do this thing properly.

The last two mocks I've taken have each scored 32 and 33 out of 35 respectively. Hopefully I can maintain at least that average when I practice tonight.

As for why I have an end-of-September deadline? I'm landing States-side of The Pond for my wife's 30th birthday and there's a nice Mustang GT available as an upgrade to our Rental.

It's a red one.