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-   -   Passed the driving test! (https://britishexpats.com/forum/trailer-park-96/passed-driving-test-500587/)

mayhemuk Dec 18th 2007 12:05 pm

Passed the driving test!
 
In Santa Rosa today I completed my behind the wheel driving test in pouring rain.
Maybe the conditions were so like home it helped relax me a bit!
One more box ticketed and hopefully start applying for some jobs soon knowing I have all the requirements.

Merry Xmas All!

mommapudding Dec 18th 2007 1:21 pm

Re: Passed the driving test!
 
Well done mate!:thumbsup: I got mine last week, feels like I mean being here now, don't now about you but I was dreading it, doesn't help everyone saying how easy it is, just made me more anxious about screwing it up - glad we didn't
x

Lord Knows Dec 18th 2007 1:32 pm

Re: Passed the driving test!
 

Originally Posted by mayhemuk (Post 5683033)
In Santa Rosa today I completed my behind the wheel driving test in pouring rain.
Maybe the conditions were so like home it helped relax me a bit!
One more box ticketed and hopefully start applying for some jobs soon knowing I have all the requirements.

Merry Xmas All!

Congratulations ! :thumbup:
Prior posters have compared their testing as nothing fancier than a slide down an icy slope, I trust yours was a stroll in the park.
Santa Rosa is south of LA if my memory has not gone soft, did you have to test on those freeways?

polar_bear Dec 18th 2007 2:27 pm

Re: Passed the driving test!
 
I was a non-driver in the uk. Always lived in London so it made no sense to drive when there is traffic everywhere and you can't park.

Will have to start driving soon though as you literally can't walk anywhere here, they don't have sidewalks or pedestrian crossings or anything. I find the whole thing very intimidating though :o I hear the US test is easier than UK, is that true?

norfolkgirl Dec 18th 2007 2:34 pm

Re: Passed the driving test!
 
Well done! Having driven for 18 years in the UK I was terrified by the test but passed with 4 marks - the same as my husband so honour was maintained!! That was 6 weeks ago and driving through SF was easy after the test!! Still would rather not cross the Bay Bridge but hey, you have to get out!

mayhemuk Dec 18th 2007 3:01 pm

Re: Passed the driving test!
 
[QUOTE=Santa Rosa is south of LA if my memory has not gone soft, did you have to test on those freeways?[/QUOTE]

No this was the NorCal version just up the road from Petaluma/Navato.
I was going to do a more local one but they didn't have anything until mid jan even in east bay.

Norfolkgirl - I passed my UK test in '88 so I know what you mean.
Polarbear - I understand the non driving being from London as I've lived and worked there on and off and you don't really need too. I just think get practice and confidence up by doing routine driving and you'll be fine.

Good Luck!

veryfunny Dec 18th 2007 3:03 pm

Re: Passed the driving test!
 

Originally Posted by mayhemuk (Post 5683033)
In Santa Rosa today I completed my behind the wheel driving test in pouring rain.
Maybe the conditions were so like home it helped relax me a bit!
One more box ticketed and hopefully start applying for some jobs soon knowing I have all the requirements.

Merry Xmas All!


:thumbsup:

Redlippie Dec 18th 2007 3:08 pm

Re: Passed the driving test!
 

Originally Posted by polar_bear (Post 5683485)
I was a non-driver in the uk. Always lived in London so it made no sense to drive when there is traffic everywhere and you can't park.

Will have to start driving soon though as you literally can't walk anywhere here, they don't have sidewalks or pedestrian crossings or anything. I find the whole thing very intimidating though :o I hear the US test is easier than UK, is that true?

A blind/deaf mute could pass it with one hand tied behind his/her back ;)

TimFountain Dec 19th 2007 1:36 am

Re: Passed the driving test!
 

Originally Posted by mayhemuk (Post 5683033)
In Santa Rosa today I completed my behind the wheel driving test in pouring rain.
Maybe the conditions were so like home it helped relax me a bit!
One more box ticketed and hopefully start applying for some jobs soon knowing I have all the requirements.

Merry Xmas All!

I guess you need to update your location, I didn't know there was a Santa Rosa in the UK.....

andie&jase Dec 19th 2007 1:54 am

Re: Passed the driving test!
 
Congrats! :thumbup:

I know exactly how you felt. I was a non-driver in the UK, and as soon as I set foot on US soil, my husband had my driving test booked in 3 weeks time! I was so nervous, 3 weeks to actually learn how to drive a car, plus learn all the signs and laws, I was a bag of nerves.

He taught me most of my skills, then he also booked me on a one day advanced training course with the skid car and all that....talk about taking no prisoners!

The actual test was a nightmare, I was so tense and sweaty, being in over 100 degree heat in downtown Phoenix didn't help either. The instructor was an ex-racing driver, and my heart was in my mouth the whole time, as he had me driving 90mph going round corners on the interstate, past semis and even took me through the airport....not at 90mph though! lol

That was the worse hour of my life, but I'm glad I did it.

Well done again, yay to freedom! :thumbsup:
Andie

keira-2007 Dec 19th 2007 2:24 am

Re: Passed the driving test!
 
Congratulation!

I passed mine last week too! (And that was in sub zero temperatures and a foot of snow... so I'm happy.)

I was really nervous too... more about the written test than the actual driving test.. don't know why. I did my test in the UK before they had introduced the written tests, and I hate written tests so I was a bag of nerves... but it was really easy, and I got 97% in it in the end, so not too bad.

I'm sure in the UK the driving tests are much more indepth - here I was only in the car for 10 mins - and half of that was waiting at red traffic lights.. :rofl:

Still as you say, that's another box ticked. What next???

MsElui Dec 19th 2007 1:48 pm

Re: Passed the driving test!
 

Originally Posted by keira-2007 (Post 5685076)
Congratulation!

I passed mine last week too! (And that was in sub zero temperatures and a foot of snow... so I'm happy.)

I was really nervous too... more about the written test than the actual driving test.. don't know why. I did my test in the UK before they had introduced the written tests, and I hate written tests so I was a bag of nerves... but it was really easy, and I got 97% in it in the end, so not too bad.

I'm sure in the UK the driving tests are much more indepth - here I was only in the car for 10 mins - and half of that was waiting at red traffic lights.. :rofl:

Still as you say, that's another box ticked. What next???

same here -passed last week in snow - about 10 mins and half of that waiting at lights.

Lord Knows Dec 20th 2007 1:12 am

Re: Passed the driving test!
 

Originally Posted by keira-2007 (Post 5685076)
Congratulation!

I passed mine last week too! (And that was in sub zero temperatures and a foot of snow... so I'm happy.)

I was really nervous too... more about the written test than the actual driving test.. don't know why. I did my test in the UK before they had introduced the written tests, and I hate written tests so I was a bag of nerves... but it was really easy, and I got 97% in it in the end, so not too bad.

I'm sure in the UK the driving tests are much more indepth - here I was only in the car for 10 mins - and half of that was waiting at red traffic lights.. :rofl:

Still as you say, that's another box ticked. What next???

"waiting at red traffic lights.."

That may have cost you some points in this area...

basementwaj Dec 20th 2007 2:48 am

Re: Passed the driving test!
 

Originally Posted by polar_bear (Post 5683485)
I was a non-driver in the uk. Always lived in London so it made no sense to drive when there is traffic everywhere and you can't park.

Will have to start driving soon though as you literally can't walk anywhere here, they don't have sidewalks or pedestrian crossings or anything. I find the whole thing very intimidating though :o I hear the US test is easier than UK, is that true?

Oh yeah!
When i went to the testing center they said they couldnt fit me in, then they asked where i was from... Suddenly they had a slot open! The examiner brought her lunch! She said she has never failed a Brit or a JAp as we all know how to drive unlike the 15 year old useless hillbilly kids she normaly gets. We drove around the block once, was back in 2 minutes when she told me i had passed! WTF?!?!?! how easy was that?
Congrats by the way!

Redlippie Dec 20th 2007 4:05 am

Re: Passed the driving test!
 
Down here in the sunshine state, you don't even go on the road half the time. They take you around the parking lot or in a track out back that reminds me of the primary school cycle tracks.


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