OC HI: STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : Tough Brakes : How Easy Is New Driving Test? : Con: The parking part of the new exam can require an ability to defy the laws of physics, especially if you’re driving a 1987 Bonneville.

The new driver’s test is no piece of cake. When I went to take it at the Fullerton DMV last summer, I spent 10 minutes in the parking lot.

I got as far as the parking part of my test. I really can park my car. Honest. I can even parallel park.

However, I discovered I can’t park my 1987 Pontiac Bonneville in a parking space lined with tall cones without hitting one--especially when the space is about the size of a 1994 Mazda Miata.

So, I hit a cone. Actually, I didn’t even hit it. As I was backing out of the space, the mirror on the right side of my car (some cars don’t even have mirrors on the right side) tapped a cone, and I was “automatically disqualified for striking an object.”

In my opinion, the new driving test just isn’t easy. I found it extremely difficult. I just don’t know many people who can park in a space smaller than their car, let alone when it’s surrounded by tall cones! I feel the test is unfair because I don’t think there will ever be a time in my life that I have to park between cones without hitting one.

Also, if I had been driving a different car, one without a mirror on the passenger side, I wouldn’t have tapped the cone.

So, before you head to your local DMV, talk to friends who have taken the new test and prepare yourself. And don’t be discouraged if you don’t pass your first time--it happens to the best of us.