A local parent has experienced nasty flashbacks to an early-2000s failed driving test during a recent visit to the traffic park near the old VicRoads office at Diamond Village. Darren Mason said he was about 15 minutes into the play with his two young children when the harsh memories came flooding back.

Speaking to The Watsonia Bugle about his ordeal, Mason said, “I think it was just the combination of being back near the old VicRoads office and watching my kids try to navigate a roundabout while riding their bikes. It was intense, I got a bit of a cold sweat, and I had to compose myself before getting in the car to drive home. Might give that park a miss for a little while. Kids had fun, but I’ve obviously got some demons that I need to confront.”

When pressed on specifics on the flashback, Mason initially said he’d rather not talk about it, before eventually opening up. He said, “I don’t know what happened on that day, but for some reason I came up to a roundabout and froze. I thought you had to give way to your left. I reckon the fact my three-point turn earlier in the test had taken four turns actually rattled me. I was a mess from that moment on.”

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