OLD TOWN – Tina Parady, 24, who got her driver’s license Thursday, said on Friday it was no big feat.

“It was easy,” said the 3-foot-4-inch Old Town woman, whose head barely reaches the door handle of her small SUV.

“She wasn’t nervous,” her dad, Gregory Parady, said. “I think I was sick all morning.”

Jim Bair of Bair’s Driving School of Bangor picked up Tina Parady around 8 a.m. Thursday for the 10 a.m. Department of Motor Vehicles driving test, which was administered by a supervisor.

The early pickup allowed Parady to get one more practice run under her belt before the big test. Bair said he wasn’t nervous at all.

“I knew she could do it,” he said. “She did great.”

The driver’s license examiner supervisor took time to make sure all of the special equipment on Parady’s 2007 Dodge Caliber worked correctly and easily for her.

The vehicle has been fitted with $12,000 to $14,000 in additional equipment, including a raised floor, extended foot pedals and a lift, which raises her to a thick, cushioned adaptive seat that places her high enough to have a good view of the road.

The automatic-transmission SUV also has a special 10-inch steering wheel, an easy-to-reach electronic emergency brake button on the dashboard and a handicapped license plate.

After earning her driver’s license, Parady drove “to Pat’s [Pizza] and went to Tim Hortons afterward,” she said.

To get into her SUV, Parady opens the driver’s-side door and pushes one of two small red buttons to lower an elevator-style lift, which she then sits on. When she pushes the second red button, the device lifts her to the seat level. Once in the seat, she folds the lift to a position between her seat and the door.

She then pulls on a red strap attached to the interior door handle to close the door.

By getting her driver’s license, Parady can be more independent, get a job and leave the house without asking her parents for a ride.

On Friday, Parady and her dad went to Bangor to get her picture taken for her driver’s license, which should arrive in the mail in the next week or so.

After saying the driving test was easy, she added: “I think the written test was harder.”

nricker@bangordailynews.net

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