Woman Passes Driver's Test on 960th Try

The 960th time's the charm. Congratulations are in order for 69-year-old Cha Sa-soon of the obscure South Korean village Sinchon—she passed the written portion of her driver's test on the 960th try. In April of 2005 she began her quest, taking the exam once a day for five days out of the week, failing with a consistency that would discourage many. Though she soon slowed to taking it only twice a week, she did not stop. Sa-soon was born to a peasant family and only had a few years of formal schooling. Said Park Su-yeon, an instructor at Jeonbuk Driving School where Sa-soon once took classes: “She could read and write words phonetically but she could not understand most of the terminology, such as ‘regulations’ and ‘emergency light.’" Sa-soon is now a national celebrity in South Korea known as “Grandma Cha Sa-soon." "When she finally got her license, we all went out in cheers and hugged her, giving her flowers, said Su-yeon, "It felt like a huge burden falling off our back. We didn’t have the guts to tell her to quit because she kept showing up.” When Sa-soon finally received her license, Hyundai called for congratulatory messages online, and were inundated with wishes. In August Sa-soon was given a $16,800 car, and now appears in a Hyundai commercial.