pranger

Sorry but this is another question about getting a driving license in New York State.

I have been in NY now for about seven weeks and today got my learner permit and have the five hour course booked for Tuesday. All fine so far.

My question is this...
we are leasing a new car that is being delivered on 1st June. My understanding is that now I have a learner permit I cannot drive without being supervised (even though have held a full UK licence for 20 years). My husband still has his UK licence and hasn't yet applied for his NY learner permit, so I assume he can't 'supervise' me. I have to provide the car for the road test with the registration and insurance card. I can't quite work out how I am meant to get to the road test in the new car if I can't drive it yet or have anyone to supervise me. Do I need to have a driving instructor take me to the road test and then take the test in their car?

I know I've made this sound ten times more complicated than I'm sure it needs to be but I can't get my head around it at all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Sally Redux

I don't think you need a learner's permit if you already have a UK licence. I didn't in CA.

elfman

I took the road test in NYC and hired an instructor for it so I could use his car (didn't have my own at the time) and also for a couple of lessons beforehand just to make sure I didn't make a tit of myself - I'd lived in Manhattan for about eight months prior to the test and hadn't done any driving at all in that time.

Top tip: unless things have changed since July 2003, if you've booked a test for (say) 8am on June 1st, don't turn up at 7:55am and expect to take the test 5 minutes later. When I went through this the instructor told me that we needed to be at the test location (somewhere in The Bronx in my case) about an hour and a half before the test time I'd been given - because the time they give you is merely the start of a four hour window in which it's first come first served among dozens of other people who've also been given the same date/time/location for the test. So the instructor and I got there at about 6:40am and were first in line. By about 7:45am there must have been two dozen other cars waiting in line behind us. And it's not like the location was an actual test center with an office, car park etc, it was just a stretch of kerb in a street next to a Home Depot in a residential area, and the examiners just pitched up out of nowhere. Again, things might have changed since 2003, and may vary around the state, so maybe ask around if this is still the case.

Jerseygirl

As per usual the rules and regs for obtaining a license vary from state to state.

lapin_windstar

Simples: get your husband to drive. And seriously - don't forget the registration and insurance card.

Also: if your husband has been living in NYS for seven weeks and he hasn't got his NYS licence, then if he drives he's being naughty and there's the chance of some unpleasantness.

http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/license.htm#driversmoving

Bluegrass Lass

Isn't your UK license still valid to drive on? I thought every state allowed you to drive on your foreign license for up to a year.

lapin_windstar

No.

Every state has its own laws. NYS gives you 30 days once you become a resident. Resident has its ordinary meaning and is nothing to do with Permanent Residency (Green Card).

pranger

Thanks for the responses so far - brilliant top tip elfman thank you! From what you've said it looks like I can organise an instructor for a short period of time without having to book a full course of lessons.

The reason we haven't sorted the licences so far is that we are living in Midtown but due to move to Garden City in the next couple of weeks. We haven't had any need to drive at all so far and wouldn't be doing unless we were moving.

So what happens with expats who have don't need to drive on a day to day basis but who may need to hire car? Is it right that they can't get one after 30 days on a UK licence?

jeepgirluk

A car rental company recently told me that they wouldn't take a UK Driving Licence (the person is still resident in the UK and would be here on holiday) but they would accept an International Driving Permit.

I came on a K1 am also in NYS and have the joy of getting my learner permit and then doing my driving test very soon. Best of luck to you.

lapin_windstar

No special rules for expats: if you move to NYS, you can drive on your existing licence only for 30 days before you need an NYS one.

Now, obviously, there are tons of people that move into NYS every year from other states and countries and don't bother to exchange/acquire licences. Half the city's cars are dodgily registered in PA and NC for cheap insurance ffs.

Pretty unlikely that a car hire firm is going to refuse to serve you because you're an NYS resident and have a non-NYS licence. Whether they want an IDP or not is up to them - I was never asked for one apart from at U-Haul.

If you got stopped by the cops, it's probably unlikely they'd give you a ticket for it (unless you spectacularly failed the attitude test). But it's still not allowed and I always wondering (not based on any experience or special knowledge) whether if you did take out a doctor in her Merc whether some insurance company would make a big deal out of the licence thing.

Jerseygirl

Unless this is a brand new rule I've never heard that before.

jeepgirluk

I had never heard it before either. I think this particular car rental company is being overly cautious.

avanutria

I took my driving test in NYS at age 16. My grandmother drove me there in her car (I could have driven with her supervising me - maybe I did, I can't remember!) and the test was taken in her car.

If I recall correctly any person over age 18 holding a full license for at least 3 years can supervise someone with a learner's permit in NY (in daylight hours). Maybe a friend can come with you and supervise your trip there?

Sally Redux

So you drive for 30 days unsupervised on your UK licence and then have to get a learner's permit and be supervised all the time until you pass the test? Seems illogical.

Jerseygirl

When my daughter took her test we used the driving instructor's car because NJ stipulates that a car with a centre handbrake be used and neither of our cars had one.