Learning to Drive

I thought I'd make this a topic because this is on my mind lately.

Can you drive? Are you currently learning to drive? Have you tried driving lessons but given up?

I did a few lessons a couple of years ago but stopped because I didn't have enough money to carry on.

Now, I'm planning on taking an intensive driving course. That's a six day course and at the end of it you're supposed to be ready to pass your test. Hopefully I'll do this next month.

Something I've always wondered - how do driving lessons work in the US? I see on TV shows etc. that school's have "Driver's Ed". Is this part of the curriculum for everyone to take and if so do you pay for it?

Anyway, a thread to talk about driving and learning to drive!

Something Ive always found funny is how those intensive driving courses are dubbed 'crash courses' what a silly term when talking of driving lol

Ive driven now for 5 1/2 years. I passed my theory 1st time though my driving test 2nd time (there was no hazard awareness back then). I was told not to take the 1st test cause i had been in and out of hospital but i felt i was ready and obviously i wasnt lol.

I passed my test and brought my first lovely car and three weeks later something snapped in the steering of my new car and sent me into a post which made the car roll in the air and land on its roof - killing the car totally. I got told i was lucky to be wearing my seatbelt otherwise i could have died from getting crushed under the car

In New Jersey, I think it's mandatory to take Driver Ed in 10th grade (sophmore year) through school. I know it is in my town. I am pretty sure there is a fee but since I'm not quite there yeat I don't know. And after you take it with the school you can take private lessons outside of school which are of coarse costly, and there are a lot of places that offer them because this is a really populated area and we a re close to a major city (NYC) so many people learn to drive.

The driving license laws differ from state to state, New Jersey has somethign where you have ot be 16 to get your permit, 17 to get restricted licesne and 18 to get your full license.. or something like that.XD

Our school system runs the Drivers Ed course. They have like, 10 people sign up when they offer it twice a year and you do have to pay for it. However, they don't require you to hold a permit. I'm so glad that it's not required!!!! I don't want to have my gym coach as my drivers ed teacher too. TOO MUCH PRESSURE. haha.

I'm learning to drive right now, but basically have it covered. I do need to do a bit of city driving, but as for the country stuff, BRING THE HILLS AND CURVES, BABY! :-D I love driving in the country. It's so much fun! Anyhow....back to what I was saying. We can get our permit at 15, then we get our license at 16. I forget when we get the full one. I'd have to read the handbook and lets face it, I didn't even read it to pass my permit test. :-D Oh, that sounds scary. Whatever :-D

Im my area, everyone takes Drivers Ed instead of Health in tenth grade. And if you pass the class, you get a discount on your car insurance! haha. Insurance is really expensive, and you need it to be allowed to drive, so I will take whatever discounts I can get.
We take the drivers ed course to prepare us to take our testfor our permit... I cant wait to take it! haha, they have these little go kart thingies to give you the feel of driving.... :]

We don't get Drivers Ed through the school, but there's a little driving school in town that everyone goes through

I'm taking it this summer after I turn 15, but we can't get our permits until we're 15 and 9 months... which sucks... and then we get our licenses six months after that.

I can't waaaait. I'm getting my sister's car once she goes off to college and I love her car

Oh, good luck! ^.^

meh, driving lessons, and of course later the exam, are a horror topic for me! xD I don't really enjoy driving - the only reason I signed up for the course in the first place was because I know I might need that stupid little piece of plastic called "driver's licence" some day and won't feel like doing it, plus I might have to do it in a country where it's much more expensive (because I'm moving from Poland to the UK to study xD) ... so have to do it now. *groans*

In any case, I've signed up for the theoretical exam on the 30th of June (right after drawing camp, so I'll have lots of fun learning the handbook almost by heart and practicing the test questions during camp. yaaaay.) - after which I'm gonna take some more practical lessons, as I'm not exactly Michael Schumacher yet, and towards the end of July I'm hopefully going to take my practical exam (.. although the chances that I pass it the 1st time are... *COUGH* .... minimal xD)

Oh and reading back what you people wrote - only 6 hours driving time with the teacher in the USA? That's short, I had to drive 30 hours before being allowed to register for the theoretical exam. o.O"

I bought a car today!!

It's a cute little Ford Ka, and it's green and eeeek now I'm all...scared :D

Over here, we have an optional drivers ed course in school, but its like 500 dollars just to sign up, but if you do you automatically get your permit and a discount on insurance, so its a pretty good deal.
I havent taken any--just 2 more years--so i dont know about hours we need.

you can get your permit at 15 and a half here, but you always have to have an adult with a license in the car and you cant go out after 11 pm. Then you can get your restricted lisence after 16 and after you've had your permit for like 6 months or something, and your full license at 18.

I am actually going to take driver's training in the fall, which is late. Considering that all of my friends took at least segment one this past fall ($250) and then most of them who had gotten in their driving time took segment two in the spring ($50). So that's my plan XD

I wish I'd have taken it sooner though, that way I could get my license closer to when I turned sixteen, but you have to have your permit for so long and everything so I won't get my license until closer to seventeen XD

Let's see here's all the requirements for segment one (taken from the official Michigan Secretary of State webpage XD):
- A student must have reached the age of 14 years and 8 months by the first day of Segment 1.

Then once you start....
- A minimum of 24 hours of instruction.
- A maximum of 2 hours of instruction per day.
- A minimum of 4 hours of classroom instruction must be completed prior to beginning driving instruction.
- A minimum of 3 hours of driving instruction must be completed before the last classroom session.
- A student must receive 4 hours or more of observation time in the training vehicle.
- A maximum of 1 hour of driving instruction per day is allowed
- A minimum of 6 hours of on-the-road driving instruction.

and after all that:
After completing Segment 1, the student and parent must go to a Secretary of State branch office to apply for a Level 1 driver license. ( The driver education Segment 1 certificate of completion is not a permit to drive and cannot be treated as a driver license.)

Then there is segment two!:
- Student must have held a valid Level 1 license for a minimum of 3 consecutive months.
- Student must have completed a minimum of 30 hours of driving time with a parent, legal guardian, or with the permission of a parent or legal guardian, any licensed driver who is 21 years of age or older. Two of the 30 hours must be night driving.

Then once you start....
- A minimum of 6 hours of instruction.
- A maximum of 2 hours of instruction per day.


Then you have to pass a road test and a written test and have to drive for so many hours on that license before you can apply for the next one after you're sixteen XD.

Wow, that's cool, Elana! :D

I've still got 4 hours of extra driving lessons with my instructor left - two of them tomorrow, two on Friday just before the ...... EXAM. O.O"

.... can I cryyyy?! XD

Duck the Duck wrote:

Something I've always wondered - how do driving lessons work in the US? I see on TV shows etc. that school's have "Driver's Ed". Is this part of the curriculum for everyone to take and if so do you pay for it?

Well, you can get your driver's permit at age 15 after you take the drug and alcohol test and the written test. After a full year you get your license, but you have to have a parent/guardia 21 or over with you or else they will not issue it.

I took Driver's Ed. For my school, it was part of the cirriculum and no it didn't pay anything except for the tests and you had to sign a waiver. So, if you damaged one of the four cars you agree to pay for the damages.

5 1/2 years of driving for me! and NO I'm NOT a crazy driver no matter what my friends and family say. I ONLy drive 5 miles over the speed limit and I SLOW down when I see cops.

NOT ONE SINGLE TICKET! whooo!

In France, you pass like preparation theory tests during your schooling, but you have to pass them They're the ASSR 1 and ASSR 2. Then you have the Code de la Route, which is the big theory test before you can start driving about all the road rules. (My bro has now failed this twice...) After that you have driving lessons, and then you pass your driving test!

Hehe, I've taken some extra driving classes in Bucharest these holidays and I just need to get one thing off my soul: .... this city is a freaking jungle! XD

Anyhow. Let's hope these lessons for me were enough so it doesn't feel like starting all over again when I drive in Warsaw before having a second go at the practical exam XD

I could go and get my permit anytime now, but I think I'm gonna wait til I'm 16 to take the test and then get my license at the same time and CONGRATS ELANA!!!

I just got my permit a few weeks ago. I'm pretty good at driving. It's on five months and a few days until my 16th b-day and then I can get my license. I can't wait !!!!

I get my permit as soon as I turn sixteen! Eeeep! Only three months until people need to watch out whilst I'm on the road!

I got mine when I was about to turn 17...becuase honestly...I dont care for driving

But in Nov. I'm going back to get my lisence so I can get a job.

Haha, my mom can't wait for me to able to drive cause then she doesn't have to take me to orchestra twice a week. (;

Yay for drivers license!

My parents didnt even want me to drive, but when my dad got sick, they were like maybe she needs to learn and such and I was like NOOOOOOOO!!!! YOU CANT MAKE MEEEE!!

And they did : (

Awwww! I'm sorry to hear that!

You didn't even wanna learn to drive a teeny bit?

When I was little my dad would drive fast and sometimes drunk...so I've always been scared of the road period.

I failed the learner's test twice... teehee. My brother got his L's before I did. Oops!

But I don't really need to drive much, 'cept to go out... but then I wouldn't be able to drink and that's no fun! So I'm pretty content

Pshhh, that's okay Melly!

I bet I'll fail mine twenty times. xD I don't do well under pressure.

Does yours cost money? It costs $37 to do the test - so I paid that twice, to fail.

Awww! I'm not sure if the actual test costs money but I know Driver's Ed does which is required. >.<

It costs money for the lessons too... not worth it in my book. 'Cause you know, I'd rather buy books

^^So true!

I'm not really sure if I'm gonna drive a lot though when I get my permit because the roads get super icy and I'm not sure I wanna kill myself in a car accident.

Here...its 3 dollars for the test and 25 for the lisence.

Okay, um, WHAT!? o.O

Why is it so darn cheap there!? Here it cost a lot to go on the theory classes, which were absolute - at loss for any better word, gomen gomen gomen! - CRAP, and then it cost to take the theory test, and another price for the actual DRIVING test, so all in all...

*checks paper*

...about 2000€

Of course, you didn't need to pay it all at once, it was in 2-3 parts, BUT STILL! xD

The driver's license I took when I was 15 - when you get to drive a bike - cost 20€ or so and it was just a theory test, and that's cheap.

I'm still so mad it's THAT cheap in the states xD I now have to have the license for 6 months - atleast - before I can take the second part, which basically tests how economically I can drive.

Then the license is okay for another... 60-70 years xD

Lol we read a book, take the test for our permit. It's a computer test...just knowing signs and stuff. Then a year later, you take a driving test and thats it. No classes or anything, unless you take it in school. Now I could be wrong, they could have changed it in the last 8 months, because in three days, I can go and get my lisence because I'm already 17 and I was suppose to get my permit when I was 15 but I didnt.

Bleck. It's different up here in CT...the computer test is the same but then you're required to take a certain number of classes (not sure how many but it's four months worth or something) and then you need a certain amount of driving hours before you can take the actual test.

Wow....maybe Alabama is different. We dont have to take the classes if we dont want too...which is only like...three months anyways. And the teachers are coaches from school...hint hint...they care to much about sports to teach

In Finland we have to sign in a driving school, and the theory classes are more like lectures :D I dazed off during those, it was pretty much just driving... in theory xD

I mean, boring much? I KNOW HOW TO DRIVE :D I've known how to drive since I was 10 xD

Anyway, yes, the test is also on a compy. You answer A, B, C or D - if I remember correctly - and it's just like you said; signs, who should let who go first, should you stop, can you turn right here etc etc... boring stuff.

But I passed 'em both on my first time - zero flaws, woooohooo :D

No surprise there.

violetriddle wrote:

Wow....maybe Alabama is different. We dont have to take the classes if we dont want too...which is only like...three months anyways. And the teachers are coaches from school...hint hint...they care to much about sports to teach

Yeah, CT's been dumb and has been making all sorts of weird laws involving underage driving. >.<


That's what my test is gonna be like too. And the classes.

Weird....how come Alabama is always different ):

Hahha, I actually think Alabama's with the majority on this one. Connecticut is the weirdest state ever. >.<

You guys suck, it' so much different here. D:


You pay $37 for the initial COMPUTER test - which is like, basic stuff like road rules, recognising signs etc - and then you pay another $25 for the licence itself.

AND THEN you have to do 120 hours of driving on your Learners, and record it in a logbook - 20 of them at night - and if you take lessons with an instructor, it's something like $30 per hour lesson. Then you get your Provisional licence (but you have to pass a test and pay for the licence - $45). After a year, you can attempt to get your green Provisionals (another $40 I think, if you pass the test) and then after another length of time, you can try for your full licence. (There are three levels I think).

Then you renew your license every 5-10 years depending on which one you paid for, but it's something like $75 for 5 years I think.

Is your system so complicated?

We renew ours every 4 years I think...for like...ten bucks..? I'm not sure, but literally all we do in Alabama is take the computer test, drive for a year or six months depending on your age, then go get the license.

You make me want to cry. They keep making it harder and harder here, with more and more strict rules. Lots of accidents, you see.

Yeah, same here... kind of. They're planning to put a driving test for those who want to have the license to drive a bike, meaning... mainly 15-year-olds. I'm all game for that - too many stupid teenagers get their first bike and license, and instantly crash soemone's car, or just generally act stupid in the traffic.

It's amazing just how many people get in accidents. Truly astounding. I'd be dangerous in a car, incidently.