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Known as “Scary Larry” thrughout the Tri-Valley, Larry Chan has been the supposed terror of the Pleasanton Department of Motor Vehicles for 20 years.
Friday, he retired, leaving behind his clipboard and checklist as he “drives” off into the sunset.
Drivers-to-be in line at the Pleasanton DMV often would smile uneasily at the thought of having the legendary man as their driving test examiner.
“I hear that he wears a lei and he’s really strict,” said Allie Dutto, 16, of Danville.
A few feet behind her in line, Divya Eppiah, also from Danville, who was getting her learner’s permit, chimed in with her own warning: “First of all, he’s scary — and it’s very unlikely he’ll pass you on your driver’s test, so you should go somewhere else.”
She added that when the time came she planned to be tested at the Walnut Creek DMV office even though it would mean navigating the twists, turns and right-of-ways in that city.
Larry Chan’s reputation obviously precedes him, even among teenagers who have been alive less than the total amount of time he’s worked as a licensing registration examiner.
Chan, 63, who has a long ponytail and regularly dons a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses, says the legend he leaves behind isn’t important.
“I have no control over that. I have no control of my nickname. A couple years ago it kind of bothered me, but now I accept it,” he said. “I’m here not to be friends, I’m just here to make sure they don’t hurt themselves or other people.”
While Chan said he is called Scary Larry because he once “slipped” and called a driver scary, an informal survey of Tri-Valley residents told quite a different account. These drivers also told tales of avoiding the Pleasanton DMV.
“Of course kids want to use my nickname to blame me for their fail. That’s natural,” said Chan, who was quick to point out that his fail rate last year was 32 percent, right in line with the state average of 30 to 33 percent. “They always tell their friends, ‘Scary Larry failed me.’ I always say it’s not me that failed the test it’s their driving that failed the test.”
Although he accounts for some of the nervousness during the 15-point examination, the thought of driving with Scary Larry made teens at one driving school so anxious that the owners took matters into their own hands to demystify him.
“I had so many students that passed with him, but half get nervous because he’s famous as a ‘mean man.’ Most of the kids have a nightmare about him,” said Pari Eshtehardi, office manager and partner at Driversity of Dublin.
Five years ago, the employees at Driversity hung a picture of Chan on their classroom wall with a sign underneath reading: “Larry is our friend.” They are still there.
“We just try to let them know that he’s not so scary. He’s very serious and he goes by the book,” Eshtehardi said.
Regardless of the origin of his nickname, or the lore it’s created, Chan said the job is his calling. After working at Sears Driving School for three years, the San Leandro resident applied to the Pleasanton DMV where he worked at the window for five years before being promoted.
“If you’re a cop you may get shot at, if you’re a fireman you may have to go into a burning building. I feel like this job is for me even if it’s dangerous,” he said.
Chan estimates that he’s given approximately 25,000 tests over the past 15 years and has had more than a couple close calls. Fender-benders happen once or twice a year, so “it’s not if you have an accident, it’s when.”
“Fender benders I can take, but close calls are scary,” he said. “I had a major head-on collision where a teenage girl was making an unprotected left turn in front of an oncoming car. The car was coming right toward my door and I thought I was going to die. It hit the front of the door, the windshield shattered, and the axle was broken.”
During another test, an elderly woman ran into a light pole when she hit the gas instead of the brake — an incident that may have been catalyst for Chan’s nickname. This was but one case of many confused drivers.
“The first year I was an examiner, a teenage kid came to the first intersection at a red light and stated, ‘Do I have to stop for this red light?’ As soon as I said yes, we had to pull over, park and walk back because I did not trust his driving,” Chan said.
Close calls and collisions aside, Chan said it’s hard to tell whether young drivers have gotten better or worse over the course of his career.
“They stopped driver’s ed and training in high schools around here, so only kids with money could take driver’s ed. That cut out a lot of kids,” he said, adding that the education process used to be better. “I do think it’s beneficial to take driver’s ed from a professional rather than a parent because (the kids) pick up the bad habits from their parents. Especially if they’re from another country, they drive like they’re in that country.”
Although Chan enjoys his job, particularly the part where he consults with the parents of his “drives” about their child’s strengths and weaknesses, Scary Larry is looking forward to sleeping in and taking road trips to Southern California and Las Vegas.
“I’ll probably miss the coworkers,” he said. “I look forward to retirement but I am scared because after I clean up the house and paint, I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m thinking about joining a gym…. I don’t want to be vegetating.”
Chan jokes about opening a driving school called “Scary Larry’s” in a few years but until then he takes any recognition as the terror of the Tri-Valley in his stride.
“I walked into hamburger place in San Leandro (not long ago) and mentioned that I worked for the DMV and the owner said, ‘Do you know a guy named Crazy Harry?’ I said, ‘No, I work in Pleasanton, do you mean Scary Larry?’ And then I pointed to myself and said, ‘That’s me,’ so he bought me my hamburger.”
just wanted to thank larry for his years of service here in pleasanton…enjoy your retirement….congrats…
I commend Scary Larry for doing our kids and our community a service by making sure that the kids he passed–knew what they were doing. While my daughter officially ‘passed’ with the necessary points–he took both of us aside and described the areas that she needed to work as she continued to improve/practice her driving. He really wasn’t that scary at all.
I commend him also. One of our daughters passed with him first time, the other didn’t. It would have been hard to blame the tester.
I think we all know that if the tester does a good job, or a police officer writes a ticket, or the inspector writes a citation on the building…. they are all doing the job of protecting our safety.
Larry, enjoy your retirement, I hope your replacement helps keeo the Tri-Valley roads safe.
J
I agree with the others, Larry did the drivers and community a service. My daughter took her test from him and passed, but he was clear and detailed in the advice he provided. Have a great and long retirement!
Scary Larry Saves Lives!
Some of the driving behavior that I see in Pleasanton of both teens and so-called adults is pretty scary. Bless this civil servant for doing what many don’t – his job.
The title containing “reign of terror” is absurd. Larry failed my daughter, deservedly so. He was very fair and gave detailed explanations of her issues. “Reign of terror” is just nonsense. More like dedicated civil servant. I wish we had a few more, especially in DC.
With the amazingly poor standard of driving in the Bay Area these days, maybe Larry ought not to retire and instead the DMV should use him as a mentor/roving instructor for other examiners -I question how some of these people have even come close to passing the test. Better yet, maybe he should run the DMV!
Congratulations Mr. Chan. All 3 of my children accepted your nickname in the spirit of a challenge to be well-prepared for their drivers tests. And they were very proud to have passed their exams on the first try! You done good!
My kids were proud to say they survived Scary Larry but he was stern and unfriendly. Scary Larry did nothing to put testers at ease and his legend, known far and wide, was not good for already nervous students, there is no need for the additional anxiety. I am glad his reign of terror is coming to an end.
I just read your wonderful story about “Scary Larry.” It was so well written and interesting. My son had Larry as his DMV Instructor (almost 10 years ago) and I have to admit that he was really scary (although it might partially have been the result of my son’s driving). We were amazed that my son made it past Larry’s scrutiny! My son is now driving on the freeways of L.A. so we’re glad that he had such an experienced and critical instructor (but at the time, it was definitely scary).
Many thanks Larry!
After driving for a couple of years I feel as if Larry should teach to the other examiners what to look for. Far to many unsafe drivers who shouldn’t have their license (Swerving 4 lanes over without a signal and not looking or people who don’t pay attention while driving and believe they have the right of way at every stop sign)
I took my test with Larry and just barely scraped by, and I agree with with what everyone has said. He was tough, but fair; I think quite a few “experienced” drivers around here could have benefited from a session with him! As a regular cyclist who follows the road rules, I’ve still narrowly avoided being hit more than a few times at intersections and driveways…
Funny Larry story in our family….
Son failed within 5 minutes (not a great way to celebrate your 16th birthday) of leaving the building.
Daughter passed with flying colors and nice comments.
Son has never had a ticket or citation in 8 years.
Daughter has wrecked two cars and had two citations-speeding and cell phone.
Go figure……….
I took my test in San Mateo and failed because of an unqualified rude examiner named Brenton accusing me of making a dangerous left turn. I’m guessing Larry would fail me too, but from what it sounds like he would act much more professional about it and not yell maniacally like Brenton did. If any DMV examiner is gonna fail a student, they should at least do it reasonably. And I think Larry somehow managed to pull that off really well. I’m giving up on driving until college because it’s too hard in this state. I prefer to ride my bike everywhere anyway. Driving is too stressful because there’s too many idiots on the roads, but hopefully Larry was able to reduce that number of idiots.