First highway you drove on

[vtk]

I don't think anyone has described Ohio licensing yet.  All I'll say is this: non-Ohioans, be glad you don't have to deal with our "maneuverability test" that bears no resemblance to any real-world situaton.

[vdeane]

Idaho's among the most liberal in terms of driving laws and even there 8 years ago there was still a process.

If you were 18 you could get a learner's permit and drive without driver's ed and supervised instruction.

You could get the permit at 14 1/2 and take a driver's ed course that required 30 hours classroom/6 hours driving/6 hours observing drivers, at which point you got a have-to-have-an-adult-in-the-front-seat permit that lasted 4 months after you finished driver's ed or your 15th birthday, whichever came later. At that point you got a restricted no-daylight license that became a full, unrestricted license at 16.

To get the license you had to take the inane written test plus a driving test. I took mine in the Idaho mountains in the winter, and the roads were bad. I got nicked for driving too close to the middle of the road on an ice-covered backroad- the driver's ed instructor said that if a plow went by I would have been hit by the plow. I replied that if a plow went by I would have moved to the edge of the road, but didn't want to on a snow packed road because the edges are slipperier. I passed.

My sister took hers in the summer and nearly failed for not going exactly the speed limit (she was going like 23 in a 25 for an extended period or something).

I'm pretty sure that's about the easiest process in the US at the moment. I understand North Dakota is really easy too- maybe somebody knows about that process.

I would say that NY's also really easy (upstate at least; NYC and Long Island are more restrictive) compared to the restrictive stuff I've seen in this thread.  At 16 you can get a learner's permit after taking the written and visual test at the DMV; the permit allows you to drive anywhere upstate (except for road test sites) in the day with a licensed driver over 21 (at night you need to be with your parents).  To get your road test, you need to complete 20 or 30 hours of driving with 10 of those in moderate-heavy traffic or pass driver's ed from a school (private driver's ed courses don't count for anything in NY, even the insurance discount).  If you pass the road test while still 16, you get a limited junior licence which is essentially a learner's permit that allows you to drive on your own to/from school, work, and doctor's appointments.  At 17 (without driver's ed) you get a junior licence that doesn't allow driving at night without a licenced driver over 21 and a teen passenger restriction so meaningless that you can safely ignore it if you don't drive a station wagon.  Note: I believe downstate has more restrictions.  At 18 (or 17 with driver's ed) you get a full licence.

When getting the permit the DMV gives you a paper receipt that suffices as a temporary permit until they mail the real one; for a licence, your road test results combined with permit do the same.  No court appearance like Virginia (someone needs to tell them about this wonderful new invention called the postal system  ).

As for first highways... my first was either NY 386 or NY 383 near Scottsville (let's just say NY 383 since I know I drove on it that day).  First interstate (and freeway) was I-490 near Victor.

EDIT: Also there's a five hour "safe driving course" required for those who don't take driver's ed.  Forgot about it when writing this post.

[relaxok]

I-84.

Unlike probably most people here, I waited until I was almost 18 before getting my license.  Not sure why.. friends usually picked me up and I would've had no car anyway at the time.

I was taking driving lessons from the Sears Driving School at the Danbury Fair Mall in Danbury, CT.   For some reason, in one of my first lessons, the teacher had me go on to the interstate (I-84).  I was terrified, and apparently, terrifying.  I remember her holding on to the handle above the door and telling me to get off ASAP 

Then a later lesson with a different teacher, had me drive all the way back home, from about exit 5 to 15 - which is over 20 miles.  That was my first time on the interstate for any significant distance.  Right lane all the way 

It's funny how vividly I still remember that.. it was in 1997 or so.

[DBrim]

First state highway was CA-107, Hawthorne Boulevard, in Torrance, CA.

First freeway was... the 405.  Trial by fire!

[Duke87]

What was your first roadtrip over 300 miles you drove, from where to where?

Hmm... well, DC is less than 300 miles away, so it wasn't that (and to think, my father and I shared the driving on that trip!)...

Actually, I think the first time I personally drove more than 300 miles in a day was probably when I went to the Baltimore road meet in April of last year. Which is less than 300 miles away, but I made a day trip out of it. And I made it into more than 300 miles one way on the way home even though it didn't need to be.

So... that was a few months shy of four years after I got my license. I got my license in July of 2006... summer after my first year of college (I was 18). At that point it was honestly something I did not because I was really excited and wanted it but more because A)I felt it had to be done, and B)it was getting embarrassing that I didn't have my license yet when everyone else did. Not that it really mattered... I was going to school in The Bronx, all travel for any purpose was easily accomplished on foot or by public transit. I only ever drove when I went home for the weekend or for winter/spring/summer break. It wasn't until a few years later (June 2009) that I would get my own car.
It then slowly sunk in that I could now drive wherever, whenever...  

Do any states actually require driver education as a condition for granting a driver's license?

Connecticut will accept a signed form from a parent saying that the applicant has had so many hours (I think the requirement is 10) behind the wheel as a substitute for a trained driving instructor. But they do require that everyone take a 4 hour class from a licensed driving school about drugs and alcohol (when I got my license it was only 2 hours and only required for minors).

[agentsteel53]

But they do require that everyone take a 4 hour class from a licensed driving school about drugs and alcohol (when I got my license it was only 2 hours and only required for minors).

how exactly does that make you a better driver?  four hours would be best spent with a quick, ten-second "don't be a fucking idiot", followed by 3h, 59m, and 50s of actual relevant instruction.

[Duke87]

how exactly does that make you a better driver?  four hours would be best spent with a quick, ten-second "don't be a fucking idiot", followed by 3h, 59m, and 50s of actual relevant instruction.

According to my sister, it was four hours of watching movies while the instructor went back to his office and did paperwork. Or jerked off. Or did something else other than teaching.  

It's utter bullshit, but, you know, some louse in the state legislature no doubt thought it was a good way to fight drunk driving. Or appear to be fighting drunk driving, which from a politician's perspective is a million times more important.

[Dr Frankenstein]

What was your first roadtrip over 300 miles you drove, from where to where?

Missed that one. Salaberry-de-Valleyfeld, QC – Parsippany, NJ, via Chateaugay, NY, US-11, Thruway, Taconic Pkwy and G.W. Br.

[Scott5114]

My first numbered highway experience was either OK 24 or OK 74. The first I drove on in drivers' ed was OK 24; can't remember if I ever did OK 74 with my parents before that though. First Interstate was I-35, of course.

With regards to inane tests: the driving instructor at the crowded Norman DPS office was widely regarded as being an utter douchebag about everything and due to his corpulence was known as the Donut King. My first try at the test was prematurely aborted by the Donut King when he took issue with me slowing down to avoid hitting a flock of birds. Apparently avoiding hazards is less important than not "obstructing traffic" by gently braking. I preferred driving to the more sedate Chickasha DPS office, an hour away, for my subsequent testing rather than having to contend with the Donut King again.

[corco]

What was your first roadtrip over 300 miles you drove, from where to where?

I drove from McCall ID to Boise and back by myself or with friends a few times once I was a junior in high school, so late 2004-2006 when my parents would allow. That's a 200 mile roundtrip.

First 300+ was a 301 mile roundtrip right after I got to school in Washington. I didn't have a car yet but found out they had a couple old Ford Windstars available for students to rent- $20 for the day, no mileage cap, can't leave Washington. I had the driving bug, so in October of 2006 I drove from Tacoma to Tacoma by taking I-5 to Bellingham, SR 539 to Lynden, followed Boundary Rd along the US/Canadian border to Sumas, then back down on SR 9/SR 522/I-405. I took those vans out a few times before I got a car at the end of my first semester.  I guess that was my first real roadgeek trip too- I did that drive just to do the drive and see the sights- absolutely no other agenda.

First 300+ one way was in March of 2007 after I got a car and drove from Tacoma to Coeur d'Alene ID to see some friends.

[OracleUsr]

First numbered highway:  US 220 (Wendover Ave.)
First interstate highway:  I-40

[Eth]

What was your first roadtrip over 300 miles you drove, from where to where?

Round trip would've been from Hampton, GA to near Bonifay, FL and back not long after getting my learner's permit (circa 2003-ish) — US 19/41 to Griffin, GA 16 to Newnan, a very short segment of US 27A/29 to I-85 to I-185 to US 80 around the north side of Columbus, then US 431 to US 231 to AL 109/FL 77 to Graceville, then FL 2 to local roads.  Somewhere around 450 miles round trip.

One way would've been from Acworth, GA to Gaithersburg, MD (May 2007) — all Interstate, I-75 to I-40 to I-81 to I-66 to I-495 to I-270, right around 670 miles.

[J N Winkler]

I grew up near the I-235/Zoo Blvd. interchange in urban Wichita, so first highway driven was likely US 54 (at the time still a surface boulevard for much of its length), and first Interstate was I-235.  First interurban journey was I-135 between Newton and Wichita, when I still had an instructional permit (my mother and a family friend supervised).  First long-distance journey (more than 300 miles) was from Wichita to Omaha, Nebraska, via I-135, US 81, and I-80, on the instructional permit with my grandmother supervising.  (My driver's education instructor actually advised against this trip, saying he could not be sure that my permit would be valid in Nebraska.  He didn't actually say "Don't do it," however, so we went ahead and had no problems.)  I think the first long-distance journey made off my own back (over 300 miles, in own car, by myself, with no-one supervising) was a round trip from Manhattan to Hays in early 1995, after I had already had my full license for almost three years.

My grandmother, by the way, passed away just a week ago today.  She was aged 92 and had an interesting driving history.  She did not actually learn how to drive until she was 35, and her instructor was my father, who was 10 at the time.  Her sister and brother-in-law owned a sheep farm near Deerfield in far western Kansas and both my father and his older brother learned how to drive there.  When my father began learning, he was so short he had to have bolsters on the pickup truck seat so he could see over the dashboard.  This was in the summer of 1954.

In the 57 years she was driving, my grandmother had only a few minor fender-benders and got only one speeding ticket, in Wichita for 40 in a 25 on the bit of North River Boulevard between Nims and the Murdock bridge.  She never actually gave up driving as she aged, although she quit trying to drive herself on long interurban journeys about 12 years ago and more or less stopped taking long trips (even with someone else doing the driving) a few years after that.  When she had her final collapse, she had just finished parking her car in a handicapped space in front of a Dillons supermarket and was about to begin shopping for groceries.

[golden eagle]

Sorry to hear about your grandmother.

[74/171FAN]

VA 156(the most important state route in the county by far) starting at a middle school just south of the intersection with US 460 with my learner's and the same road with my license(not including the road leaving my house to the highway)

[ctsignguy]

My first driving was with Driver's Ed classes in 1976. 

First freeway was US 35....

First highway would be what is now Ohio 835...so failing that, old US 35

[NWI_Irish96]

First numbered highway: IN 106
First US highway: US 6
First 4-lane highway: US 31
First interstate highway: I-80/90

[vtk]

My first long-distance (>300Mi) trip was probably with my then-girlfriend, to a roadgeek meet in Novi, MI at the end of 2002.  I'm not sure of the exact mileage, but considering a few small detours we made, it probably topped 300.

[pianocello]

My first major trip behind the wheel (i drove a few times in the city) was on US-30 between Fort Wayne and around Valparaiso, IN. When we got to the toll road at the US-421 exit, I pulled over and let my dad drive the rest of the way home. Later that day, I drove on I-80 from Silvis, IL to Davenport, IA (~15 miles).

I don't think I've ever topped 300 miles in one trip, but I went from El Paso, IL (US-24 and I-39) to Burns Harbor, IN (I-94) and again from St. Joseph to St. Johns, MI. Total that day was about 250 miles.

[bulldog1979]

The first time I drove a vehicle was my Grandfather's 1981 Dodge Ram pickup on rural gravel roads around Cheboygan, MI, in October 1994. We didn't get on any numbered highways, although we did take Hebron Town Hall Road over I-75. (That road is kinda trippy since the only paved segment of it is the I-75 overpass.) After that, I drove on gravel roads around Negaunee, MI, with my mom.

Once I was in driver's ed, the first state trunkline would have BUS M-28 followed by US 41/M-28. The first freeway would have been my first trip with my mom downstate when I'd have driven on I-75 between M-123 and C-66.

[yakra]

I was about ready to say the US1 freeway, till I remembered there was the actual Driver's Ed class, before I got my permit. So that would definitely make my first numbered highway ME123.
I remember driving on ME209 (and maybe 216), so that would involve the US1 freeway in order to get there. I can't remember what freeway came first though, that or taking I-95 (now 295) downa Pawtland, and "Classic 295" (as I call it). That trip included what I'm pretty sure was my only trip over the old Million Dollar Bridge on ME77 between Portland & SoPo. Construction was proceeding on the new Casco Bay Bridge alongside & overhead at the time. Pretty Funky. The new bridge opened only a few months later.

[akotchi]

The first road I drove on was Md 214 at the U.S. 301 interchange in southern Anne Arundel County -- driver's ed class.

First highway was U.S. 50 in Maryland when I got my license.

First long trip (over 300 miles) was in 1988:  Bensalem, PA to Cobourg, ON

[corco]

The first time I drove a vehicle was my Grandfather's 1981 Dodge Ram pickup on rural gravel roads around Cheboygan, MI, in October 1994.

Everyone should be required to drive  an old (pre 1990- anything newer has too many gizmos to make it easy to drive), full-size pickup, especially with a manual transmission the first several times they ever drive a car. Good job to your grandfather!

[agentsteel53]

nah, a small, old beater car is even better a learning experience.  having a powerful engine will forgive many mistakes.

I learned to drive on an '82 Rabbit when I was 11.

[corco]

having a powerful engine will forgive many mistakes.

Having a pickup unforgives them- a big torquey pickup with no weight in the back can be a real challenge to drive on ice, even with 4WD

But really, anything old and simple is good. If you learn to drive on one of these new fancy cars with stability control and lane departure warnings and backup cameras and whatnot it's too easy