...I have a driver's license*.
I could have gotten it as early as January, and you'd think a roadgeek like myself would try to get it sooner, but all that time I was too scared to do the parallel parking part of the test (though I actually did good on that part of the test). I had wanted to get it to inspect a route change project (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=2244.0).
I had actually had plans to test for the license the first day of my Spring Break... However, my luck isn't very good and on the first day of Spring Break testing closed for two months.
This license has some restrictions. For example, I can only have one non-family member in the car when I'm driving (increases to three in six months). There is also a cerfew (1 AM to 5 AM).
* I passed the test for the license, but technically don't have it yet. This is because the DMV wait time has to be an hour or two in a non-social distanced line when I was there last, so I am going to try to go the DMV at a better, less busy time next week.
Congrats!
It must work differently in your state. Here in NY, once you pass the road test you immediately get a temporary paper license to use until your regular one comes in the mail. So there would never be a situation where you passed the road test but still can't drive on your own.
Missouri's problem is that the tests and the licenses are done by two separate agencies.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol does the tests, and when you pass, you are given a sheet of paper proving you have passed the test. You then take that sheet (and the other required identifying documents you have to bring) to a License Office/DMV, which is managed by the Department of Revenue. Rarely are the two offices in the same building.
I'm also procrastinating it. I'm taking drivers ed this summer and I hope to get my permit soon, and I'll try to get my license sometime in 2021.
Congratulations!
I remember getting really lucky about my license test in that I didn't have to parallel park. I have only had to parallel park a few times since (in Columbia) and while I do alright, I still don't like it. I try to avoid it when I can.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 06, 2020, 11:08:31 AM
...I have a driver's license*.
QuoteAge: 16
It's me or you are too young? Here in Spain the legal driving age is 18, so definitely laws are different and it's just me.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on June 06, 2020, 04:34:53 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 06, 2020, 11:08:31 AM
...I have a driver's license*.
QuoteAge: 16
It's me or you are too young? Here in Spain the legal driving age is 18, so definitely laws are different and it's just me.
Varies from state to state, and some states have varied over time. I got mine in Virginia on my 16th birthday, though I think the age in Virginia is now 16.5 (not positive because I don't have kids, so it doesn't affect me).
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on June 06, 2020, 04:12:00 PM
Congratulations!
I remember getting really lucky about my license test in that I didn't have to parallel park. I have only had to parallel park a few times since (in Columbia) and while I do alright, I still don't like it. I try to avoid it when I can.
In Virginia parallel parking was not on the test when I took it, so I didn't learn how to do it. Taught myself how when I was in college and I've been quite good at it ever since. The only time it's tricky is parking on the left side of a one-way street, which is not something I have to do very often. (My wife's car with the rear camera and sonar might be easier, but I haven't had to park it that way yet.)
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on June 06, 2020, 04:34:53 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 06, 2020, 11:08:31 AM
...I have a driver's license*.
QuoteAge: 16
It's me or you are too young? Here in Spain the legal driving age is 18, so definitely laws are different and it's just me.
Yes, different countries have different laws. Not really that unusual.
Its worth noting that the restrictions I have listed above go away at 18. Instruction Permits (drive with a parent/guardian/instructor in the passenger seat) can be had as early as 15 (in MO).
Those restrictions and license tiers are part of the "Graduated Driver's Licensing Law" and many states have similar guidelines.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on June 06, 2020, 04:34:53 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 06, 2020, 11:08:31 AM
...I have a driver's license*.
QuoteAge: 16
It's me or you are too young? Here in Spain the legal driving age is 18, so definitely laws are different and it's just me.
Most of my classmates already have a license.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on June 06, 2020, 04:34:53 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 06, 2020, 11:08:31 AM
...I have a driver's license*.
QuoteAge: 16
It's me or you are too young? Here in Spain the legal driving age is 18, so definitely laws are different and it's just me.
My Dad taught me how to ride a Moped at 5 years. At 9 nine I was taught how to drive on our property out in Connecticut so I could help move materials. I had my learner's permit as early as I could in Michigan which was when I was 15. It wasn't even a question that I would get my license within days of turning 16. I used to make runs between Lansing and Chicago all the time starting about a week after getting my license.
To that end, my parents really pushed me to be able to transport myself. The further back in time you go in the United States there seems to be more of a push for young people to get out on the road. That seems to have waned substantially with the last couple generations.
In Pennsylvania, the process is simple - you pass your test and they give you a permanent license then and there. IMO, the test should be way harder.
I got my license on the last possible day before PA DMV centers shut down for the pandemic.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 06, 2020, 03:11:55 PM
I'm also procrastinating it. I'm taking drivers ed this summer and I hope to get my permit soon, and I'll try to get my license sometime in 2021.
I haven't got the permit yet either. As Ozarkman mentioned, the process involves both SHP and DMV approvals in MO. License will probably be Dec 20/spring 2021.
Quote from: Ketchup99 on June 06, 2020, 09:20:51 PM
In Pennsylvania, the process is simple - you pass your test and they give you a permanent license then and there. IMO, the test should be way harder.
I got my license on the last possible day before PA DMV centers shut down for the pandemic.
My teen daughter did the same thing.
Congrats! I got mine about maybe 9 months ago, and it honestly really is freeing.
I ran into the curb on my parallel parking test (first, the DMV I went to's parallel parking space was super narrow, and second, I was driving a minivan). However, I still passed and the TxDot employee with me said I was one of the best she had ever seen. :confused:
What's funny is that I drove the TX-130 tollway at full blast while I had my permit (before I had my license, as my signature states), so I have actually drove at a faster speed in my almost 2 years of driving experience than my dad and mom did in about 30 years of experience.
21.9 for me. Couldn't afford a car before then.
Quote from: Ketchup99 on June 06, 2020, 09:20:51 PM
In Pennsylvania, the process is simple - you pass your test and they give you a permanent license then and there. IMO, the test should be way harder.
I got my license on the last possible day before PA DMV centers shut down for the pandemic.
...
road test, right?
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on June 06, 2020, 10:32:09 PM
Quote from: Ketchup99 on June 06, 2020, 09:20:51 PM
In Pennsylvania, the process is simple - you pass your test and they give you a permanent license then and there. IMO, the test should be way harder.
I got my license on the last possible day before PA DMV centers shut down for the pandemic.
...road test, right?
Yep, should have clarified.
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on June 06, 2020, 04:34:53 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 06, 2020, 11:08:31 AM
...I have a driver's license*.
QuoteAge: 16
It's me or you are too young? Here in Spain the legal driving age is 18, so definitely laws are different and it's just me.
I don't think there's anywhere in the US that doesn't allow at least a learner's permit at 16, and some states allow a permit as low as age 14.
In NY when I got my licence, I believe you had to be 16.5 for a limited junior licence (which allowed driving only for work and health), 17 for a junior licence (which allows general driving with restrictions on night driving and number of non-family passengers), and 18 for a full, unrestricted licence (or 17 with driver's ed from an approved school).
Quote from: 1995hoo on June 06, 2020, 04:57:27 PM
Quote from: CNGL-Leudimin on June 06, 2020, 04:34:53 PM
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 06, 2020, 11:08:31 AM
...I have a driver's license*.
QuoteAge: 16
It's me or you are too young? Here in Spain the legal driving age is 18, so definitely laws are different and it's just me.
Varies from state to state, and some states have varied over time. I got mine in Virginia on my 16th birthday, though I think the age in Virginia is now 16.5 (not positive because I don't have kids, so it doesn't affect me).
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on June 06, 2020, 04:12:00 PM
Congratulations!
I remember getting really lucky about my license test in that I didn't have to parallel park. I have only had to parallel park a few times since (in Columbia) and while I do alright, I still don't like it. I try to avoid it when I can.
In Virginia parallel parking was not on the test when I took it, so I didn't learn how to do it. Taught myself how when I was in college and I've been quite good at it ever since. The only time it's tricky is parking on the left side of a one-way street, which is not something I have to do very often. (My wife's car with the rear camera and sonar might be easier, but I haven't had to park it that way yet.)
I also got my license a month after my 16th birthday (1978) when I lived in Chesapeake. I got my learners permit at 15 years 8 months after being taught to drive by my father. We also had
free drivers education classes, along with practice driving green Ford Fairlanes, at my high school (Western Branch High) back then. Now, based on when my children were working on receiving their licenses here in Kentucky, it costs anywhere between $300-400 to attend a drivers education class.
Quote from: CoreySamson on June 06, 2020, 10:12:58 PM
Congrats! I got mine about maybe 9 months ago, and it honestly really is freeing.
I ran into the curb on my parallel parking test (first, the DMV I went to's parallel parking space was super narrow, and second, I was driving a minivan). However, I still passed and the TxDot employee with me said I was one of the best she had ever seen. :confused:
What's funny is that I drove the TX-130 tollway at full blast while I had my permit (before I had my license, as my signature states), so I have actually drove at a faster speed in my almost 2 years of driving experience than my dad and mom did in about 30 years of experience.
When I was growing up, the age for a learner's permit in Virginia was 15 years 8 months. I remember about two months after I got my permit, we went to New York to visit my grandparents over spring break and my father had me do most of the driving (we switched back at the last service area before the Goethals Bridge so that I wouldn't drive in New York City). At one point on the Turnpike he insisted I go 80 mph to understand what that speed felt like.
Quote from: 1995hoo on June 07, 2020, 08:34:11 AM
At one point on the Turnpike he insisted I go 80 mph to understand what that speed felt like.
My experience as a new driver was somewhat different. The family car was a Datsun 1200, a tiny economy car that maybe could reach 90mph going downhill.
That was fine with my mother, who was a real worrywart about driving and indeed refused to learn how to drive, traumatized by an auto accident in Italy she survived as a passenger. But that left my family without wheels for a few years after my father's passing, so at least there was about zero reluctance about my getting a driver's license as soon as I was allowed to do so.
Congrats, Ozarkman!
My daughter, now 18, absolutely refuses anything aimed at learning to drive. I'm not sure she realizes how much that's going to limit her: cities to live in that have decent public transit, inability to go into the country much at all.
I have to admit I only have the driver's license just to go anywhere in the country any time I want. Otherwise, I try to use public transit (way better in this side of the pond) whenever possible. I like to park at the outskirts of a city, then catch a bus to downtown.
Quote from: ozarkman417 on June 06, 2020, 11:08:31 AM
all that time I was too scared to do the parallel parking part of the test (though I actually did good on that part of the test).
Don't move to the city! I don't have a parking spot at my apartment building, so I have to parallel park every time I come home. Oh, and it's on a hill too.
The tricks for me are A) don't be afraid to lower the passenger mirror, B) make really quick turns, C) you're farther from the car behind than you realize, and D) drive a smaller car :-D.
Also, don't be afraid to tap the curb or the car behind. Light taps on both are not a big deal and won't leave damage. In fact, if you approach at just the right angle, your tire will slightly press against the curb; at that point, quickly straighten out and you'll basically be sitting perfectly against the curb.