I passed my driving exam!!!

Congratulations! 

But when on earth did demonstrating the power steering become part of the test?   

Thanks everyone. It is a huge relief.

Congratulations! 

But when on earth did demonstrating the power steering become part of the test?   

Before you set off on the actual drive, the examiner asks you two questions. One is a "tell me" and the other is a "show me." On this one I had to open the hood and show here where the coolant went and tell him how I would check the levels. Then when we got in the car I had to demonstrate that the power steering worked.

There is a list of all the ones they could possibly ask. It's basically being able to identify a few things under the hood (coolant, oil, brake fluid and washer fluid) and how to check them all and showing them that certain things work or how you'd check them (the horn, power steering, hand brake, and headlights/tail lights and indicators).

Ah O.K.      I knew they added the basic maintenance items to the written test a few years ago, but the power-steering demo just seemed a little odd.  After all, if your power steering quits working you should be able to feel it immediately you try to turn the wheel!

I know I looked at the maintenance questions in a book some time ago and came to the conclusion that you can't possibly answer "correctly" unless you've been told what answer is expected.   Best I can remember, one of the questions was something like this:

Which of these items would you check before setting off on a journey?

(a)  Oil level, coolant, tires, and battery.
(b)  Coolant, battery, oil, and lights.
(c)   Lights, battery, tires, and oil
(d)  Oil, coolant, tires, and washer fluid.

Huh? 

They're all things you might check before setting off, depending upon when you last checked them and whether you were setting off on a cross-country jaunt or only driving a couple of miles to the supermarket.     Weird question.

Well done!!!