Re: Driving in the US
 

:lol:

The tie-dye shirt was a dead giveaway. It was also an electric car, and it was also in Boulder so it shouldn't really have been a major surprise in hindsight.

Re: Driving in the US
 

Mine involved a 3 point turn that I was told could take more points if needed.

Re: Driving in the US
 

I had mine recently and was asked to parallel park - he informed me not to worry about hitting the curb, he'll pass me as long as I don't mount it!

Seems like standards to pass the driving test are much higher in the UK!

Re: Driving in the US
 

I feel cheated here in Washington. Went out on my driving test last January during heavy snowfall, icy roads, too. Had to reverse around a corner, hill start, three-point turn, parallel park, couple of roundabouts (no sweat to a Brit but others had problems), and change lanes on the freeway. Also had to park on a hill and turn the wheels the right way. And use hand signals too.

The space he selected for the parallel parking was "empty" because it had been used by the local residents to dump the snow they'd cleared from their driveways. So when we got back to the test center he fashioned a space for me to parallel park in with some old cones he found in the back of the office.

Re: Driving in the US
 

Also driving standards after passing the test. I wonder if those things are related? :unsure:

Re: Driving in the US
 

I am sure everyone is correct but just a word to the wise about being complacent! I had no road test (NJ) but failed the first time I sat the online test thinking it was going to be easy I only did brief reading....you have to get 40 right out of 50 and I had a heap of stopping and parking distances and points questions! (yes you get more points for not observing school buses than first drinking offence!) Good luck!

Re: Driving in the US
 

Thank you for confirming what I said in post #7, above. :)

Re: Driving in the US
 

Thank you all for the advice so far! I’ve drove around Omaha before and up to South Dakota (one very long, straight road). It didn’t seem too hard! Just gotta get used to the other side of the road.

Is there any way you can drive a car up until your test date? Like on an international driving permit?

Thanks!

Re: Driving in the US
 

I failed mine twice in NJ:) At least I now know that most DUI's are down to Beer not Whiskey. I've also discovered that a Stop sign actually means slow down a little, dont stop for anyone and you will be publically flogged if caught using an indicator or leaving the fastlane of the freeway more than 200 yds before you want to get off.

Re: Driving in the US
 

An IDP is just a translation of your licence, therefore wholly unnecessary in the US so save your money.

Your British licence is good for however long the Nebraska law on drivers licenses says after you move to Nebraska, which is usually 30-90 days (varies by state), so you should work on getting your test set up ASAP after you arrive.

ETA: Here you go, Nebraska only gives you 30 days.

That said, in practice (i) if a cop stops you they don't have access to any data that proves when you arrived, because there is no such database, and (ii) many people are slack about swapping to a new license when they move between states, and cops have better things to do than ticket people for not having swapped their license quickly enough. So even if you haven't met the Nebraska deadline for getting a local license, just be sure to carry the paperwork that shows that you are working on getting a Nebraska license and it is highly unlikely that you'd have a problem even if the police did stop you.

Re: Driving in the US
 

Heading the opposite way I have done Omaha to Kansas City driving mostly empty country roads (on purpose). You can drive for a long time without seeing anything but a few barns.

Re: Driving in the US
 

I don't know if Florida is getting tough on their driving tests, or it was just the centre I went to.

I had to drive around the car park, observing stop signs, drive into a parking space, explain how I would park on a hill, reverse out, drive on the roads in the adjacent industrial park, including observing stop signs, avoiding pedestrians, reverse 50 yards using the correct procedure, 3 point turn, and maybe some other maneuvers I've since forgotten about. Approximately 15-20 minutes.

Still easier than the UK test (and I took my UK test over 30 years ago when it was 'easier').

Had no problem with the theory test, after reading the FL DMV book the night before.

Re: Driving in the US
 

Been living here in Omaha for 6 months and driving on my British (“international”) licence. Got pulled over by the police a few months ago and he didn’t even flinch, or ask any probing questions, as to why I didn’t have a Nebraskan or US permit. Reading all the above makes me think I should probably do something about that...but just to reiterate that there is no immediate panic when you first arrive. You will have more important things to do in the first few days such as, for example, locating your nearest off licence. ;)

Re: Driving in the US
 

It's all fine and dandy, .... until you get involved in an accident, then there may be very probing questions asked about whether your license is valid. Annnd if you are driving without a valid license then you might find that your insurance isn't valid. :eek:

It is a common falacy that just because the federal government says that a foreign license is valid for upto 12 months for a visitor, that the same time period applies when you become a US resident. It doesn't!.

Re: Driving in the US
 

Valid point(s) @Pulaski!