A determined man in Poland has finally passed his driving test after 139 failed attempts in nine years, the country’s media reported.

The man, a resident of Tarnów, Poland, got his 15 minutes of fame for a rather unflattering reason – taking 139 tries to pass the driving test, a mandatory step to getting a driver’s licence.

In Poland, as in other European countries, aspiring drivers must pass a computer-based test before taking the practical driving exam.

If one doesn’t pass the theoretical test first, they don’t even get to attempt the driving test. Most people only need between one and three attempts to pass the test, but in extreme cases, it can take years and dozens of attempts.

Last week, the Małopolska Road Traffic Centre in the Polish city of Tarnów announced that the man eventually passed the test after a whopping 139 attempts. He was said to have been trying since 2017 and had spent about $2,100 in examination fees.

“This person did not give up taking the examination. It shows that the driving licence is very important for him,” Paweł Gurgul, director of the Tarnów testing centre, said.

Gurgul explained that after the unnamed person failed the test dozens of times, they had a conversation and he learned that the candidate had been using a demo version of the tests that prepare for the exam, which didn’t include all the possible questions.

“After he started using the full version of the programme, with all the questions, he was getting closer and closer to a positive result, missing fewer and fewer points, until he finally passed,” the testing centre director added. Perseverance! (Sunday Tribune)