Daniel Craig earns his licence to drive

The James Bond actor lives to drive another day on New York's streets

Secret agent 007 might have a licence to kill. But James Bond is not exempt from American road laws and had to take a course on “responsible safe driving” in order to be allowed on the road.

Or rather the actor who plays the current Bond - Craig, Daniel Craig, - had to. Having moved to Manhattan, New York with his wife fellow actor Rachel Weisz, Craig has had to take driving lessons to obtain a legal motorist’s licence.

All foreigners, regardless of if they are top secret agents on their Majesty’s Service or mere mortals, must pass a road safety test, a pre-licencing driving-safety course and take a written exam.

Richard Fernandez, of the Professional Driving School of the Americas, where Craig took the five-hour lesson, said: “No one is exempt, regardless of who you are.”

Which, given how quickly the DBS Aston Martin which crashed on its way to the Skyfall film set in 2008 became as flat as a pancake (remarkably leaving its driver with minor injuries), is rather a good thing.

But Craig is not exempt from all the special treatment being 007 gets you: “His assistant requested a special class for Daniel by himself. No other students were there. He was such a nice dude, so friendly,'' driving instructor Fernandez told the New York Post.

Luckily, the 44-year-old passed his test on Staten Island with flying colours and lives to drive another day.