[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: I've failed my driving test!

[Kathryn Cawte]

bboy_mn

Unlike Britain, and other Euro countries I assume, in the USA the year
before you are old enough to get a license, you are allowed to get a
Learner's Permit, that allows you to take Driver's Training and drive
when accompanied by a licensed adult.

K

You can get a provisional license at age 17 and take your test at any point
after that - originally I think you had to wait till you were 18.
Technically you could take your test the day you turned 17 now though (since
you don;t need a license to drive on private land you could learn before
then without a license).

The reason I didn't give the cost for a license is I couldn't find it
anywhere. You pay for the provisional license at it simply gets swapped for
a full license if/when you pass - but since I got mine when I was 17 I don't
remember how much it cost and have no clue how much it's gone up since. You
do have to pay to replace it if you lose it.

bboy_mn

I checked and you can still get a very restrictive Farm Driving Permit
when you are as young as 15. You are restricted to driving on unpaved
secondary roads and only during daylight hours, and your driving must
be related to farm work.

K

As I said if you're not on public roads/land you don't need a license so
plenty of farm kids drive landrovers before 17, some from the time they're
large enough to reach everything.


bboy_mn

I think in Germany the cost is extremely high. They take driving very
serious there. Not to imply that Brit's don't take driving serious.


K

One thing we don't learn here is motorway driving (although if you're on the
M25 all you need to know is where the handbrake is, you don't even need to
get out of first gear ;) It's illegal to drive on a motorway before you have
a license - so obviously you can't learn till after you've passed your test
and then it's optional.

When learning you don't actually need a licensed instructor. To be legal, as
a learner, you must have an adult over a certain age (25 I think) who has
held a license for a certain length of time (5 years I think) in the car
with you but that is all. However anyone who learns from their parents is
obviously part of a family of saints because it's the quickest way to get
into a fight. I went out once with my father - *never* again!

K