Driving teacher without licence for 43 years

BERLIN (Reuters) - A Berlin driving instructor who taught more than 1,000 motorists how to drive says he never obtained a driver's licence because he was too nervous to retake the test after he failed the first time -- 43 years ago.


"I flunked it because I drove too fast at a roundabout and didn't come to a complete standstill at a stop sign," the instructor, identified by police as Wolf-Dieter R., told Berlin's B.Z. newspaper on Saturday. "I was too afraid to try again."


He was caught by police after a minor accident with a Polish truck recently. He told police he never had a licence. He said it was his first accident after four decades driving cars, tractors, and even tanks as a former East German army soldier.