NC Penguin

I must make a note to take care on the roads if ever visit TN.

At least in my 7 mins long driving test in North Carolina I did have to demonstrate an emergency stop, 3 point turn and correct driving behaviors at traffic lights!!





NC Penguin

honeymommy

Easy in Los Angeles.... Took written test which hubby's company had nicely given us copies of with the answers on... Not that we actually needed them with the stupid questions they had...... Went back a week later for the driving test......

Mine was a total of 8 minutes long. I drove basically round a small residential area..... Right out of test center, across the junction, left, left, left, right, stop at lights, go across the same junction, left back into test center.... That was it.......

Then I was let loose in my huge surburban!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

scary thing I think is that they don't have "L" plates or anything for the learners, so they could be any old crap driver....

dbj1000

Pimpbot

I never drove in the U.K. but passed my American test in an automatic after maybe two days worth of serious driving. My test involved a three point turn and a drive around the block which took about 10 minutes. I'd took the written test back in march to get the instructional permit. I believe out of 30 questions, you could get 5 wrong and still pass. My wife barely gets a look at the driver seat now. lol I just did 700 plus miles driving to Vegas and back.

Driving tests do vary here though. I took mine in Mesa as I had heard that they didn't test for parralel parking(which they didn't) but Scottsdale where I live and is only a few miles down the road, does test for it.

Bob

Well it is a bit of a farse when there is no distinction between learners and non learners, as well as being allowed to drive a manual when never having had lessons or been tested in one. Any old US license and they have full driving privilages in the UK, slightly worrying if there in a rental with a manual for the first time. Can also transfer to a UK license on a US, or was able to a few years ago at least.

PBC_1966

There's no requirement to take the practical driving test in Nebraska, at least there wasn't back in 1995. Just an eye test and written test.

I think "L" plates may be rather overrated. They have a tendency to encourage some drivers to do things that they wouldn't do otherwise:- "Oh, it's a learner coming, let's pull out quick, we don't want to get stuck behind him."

Bob

Yeah, and on the other hand, have more patience is they stall out in front of you...

geohar

I'm in the process of investigating relocating to california (company moving Silicon Valley)... One of the things that I'm trying to work out is driving licences...

As a kid I never learned to drive (lived central and was easier to walk, esp. when drinking). Uni was the same, and then a year in London - anyway you get the idea. I'm now in the process of learning to drive - I'm pretty much at test standard, but no test (theory or practical) taken yet. I think it's a 1month wait for the theory and 2-3month for the practical.

So the move (if/when it goes ahead) might be quite soon. I'm not entirely sure if I'll be able to get the UK licence done before it all kicks off... My question is-

is it worth considering moving to the california/the bay without a driving licence and sorting things out when I get there - lessons and test. Is that reasonably easy to do (I've looked at the driving pages from ca's governement site). I know there's some transport Caltrain etc which I could use before I get it, and I could most probably lift share also...

Is it just too much hassle, and should I push for the latest transfer date possible to give time to sort the licence etc here first. How easy is it if I do that to transfer to the US licence - I have to retake a test anyway within 30-90 days, right?

Any help appreciated (lots to think about, so I'm trying to get as much advice as possible from everywhere).

Thanks

George

honeymommy

Personally I would get a UK license if possible, so it's done and dusted... Then get the CA one when you get there... The tests in California are hillarious. 5mins round the block and your done thats if you pass the idiots guide to driving written test.... It's a doddle....

geohar

thanks for that. I'll try to go for that if timescales allow (and push for there to be room in the schedule if it's not there off the bat).

Bob

I wouldn't bother with the test in the UK myself if I were you, like HM said, there easy in the states, take it here, if you move back to blighty, you can transfer a US license...well at least you could a couple years ago

geohar

Is it going to be a major pain if for the 1st month or so I can't drive in the US... I will probably be able to share, but all the same. Here, I'd be confident it wouldn't be too much of a difficulty. What about in places like the city, PA and so on?

Bob

Don't know, probably not a problem in big cities, but where I am, Maine, no car, ya kinda buggered, but I still ain't gotten local license either, but then that all depends on which state your in, maine is a tad lack, "tough" driving test though compared to some other places, but could have fooled me *l*

Big Vern

You could do what Mrs Vern did, we were in a hurry and she was just learning in the UK, so she took and passed the automatic test (two days before we were due to leave), at least that way she could drive in the US as soon as her UK licence arrived, and we just had the post redirected to us in the States. She got the UK licence through about three weeks after we arrived.

Now she's practiced a lot under her UK licence, she's taking the WA driving test next week.

When you go back to the UK to visit, always use your US licence, which then entitles you to drive a stick shift if you really insist...

I always drove an automatic in the UK anyway (despite having a full licence) so it wouldn't make any difference to me....