Do you have a driver's license?

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I'm pushing 27 years and I still don't have a drivers license. I still think about it and feel down about it. I really want one but I don't go to the DMV for the permits first. All I have to do is walk to the offices.

One problem that concerns me though is my fear of weak depth perception and muscle control (pressing the gas, and brake). And reacting to, plus concentrating on the road.

And of course the possible bouts of anxiety.


I think in California the minimum age is 16 with parent/guardian signature plus training. 18 without - driver training at this age is optional I believe

As for the depth perception, they will test you when you get your permit. If you truly can't judge depth well enough they won't give you a permit, but I think you would have to be pretty much totally blind. I've found that people walk pretty much the same way they drive. If you can walk through the halls without bumping in to people and walls too much, you can probably drive. I say "too much" because I think its actually easier to drive than walk. A car is designed so that it naturally wants to go straight. Also cars are unable to stop and turn 90degrees in the blink of an eye as pedestrians sometimes do.

The best way to get used to the brake and gas is to sit in a car and push them. Remember that they are designed for you to use you're ankle muscles only. Rest your heel on the floor and push the pedals with your toes. If you're nervous about using the gas, get the feel of it with the car in park.

Controlling a car is basically forward,back,left,right. Find a way to get some seat time so that you can learn to make the car go where you want it to go without thinking about it, then work on knowing where to make it go.

I got my drivers license at 17 and even then I was horrible. It look a couple of years to finally get the hang of keeping my attention on driving rather than letting my mind wanter

In any case, I now drive a school bus and really, except for the fact that it is longer, wider, higher, and heavier, there is no difference between the school bus and the car.

One good idea though is to go to a parking lot and get used to the basic controls of the vehicle prior to going out on the road.

I have my provisional, but I stopped taking lessons. I was learning manual, but I think I'd rather just learn automatic. As it is, I have enough trouble with concentration. I'm 21, so I suppose I should be driving by now... but buses and trains take me pretty much everywhere I need to go. Driving in Central London would be impossible anyway.

I got my automatic licence when I was 17. I had three weeks in which to get it, that's why I chose automatic. I also thought that my co-ordination wasn't good enough to drive a manual. However, in years to come, I learnt to drive a forklift and a front-end loader. Those required co-ordination that I didn't know I had.
I also have no depth perception whatsoever, I used shadow cues to work out distances.
When driving a car, I just have to be extra vigilant.
I have had two car accidents - I blamed my ADHD at the time...

So why would you have to obtain a separate license for manual transmission in Australia? I usually concur that as long as someone can control a car and know the road and traffic well. Voila!

I can understand having separate licenses for busses, big rigs, semi-trucks, etc. Plus a regular licenses extended for the purpose of carrying commerical products and/or hazardous materials.

But a stick-shift license? Please do explain.

In some countries, if you take your road test in a Automatic, you can only drive automatic cars, and as for a manual, it's the same. In some countries, it's hard to find an automatic.

I had my dad teach me first in a stick shift, but that didn't go anywhere. I know how to do it, but my timing is way off when letting off the gas and then on to the clutch. Just gotta practice, but most people I know with a stickshift won't let me practice.

But my current car with an automatic has plenty of pep and shifts decently.

All the kids I grew up with got theirs at 16 or 17 at the latest. I did not get mine until I was 20 and might not have even got it then if my mom had not just asked me to try it one afternoon. All the little teenagers were comparing their 95 and 96 scores. I took my 85 up there and got a license that gave me the same legal license that they got. I think I am a much better driver now than most of them likely are. I know all the rules and follow them all the time. I am sure they are like most NTs where the rules are quickly tossed aside once you get the license.

I've never had an automatic. I don't like driving them because I find it allows me to be lazy and I am a much better driver when shifting gears requires me to stay fully engaged in driving.

I got my licence at 18. I didn't drive at university, nor did I drive much for a few years after starting university. Currently, I drive quite a long way to and from work. I'm lucky to have good peripheral vision and have a good ability to judge speed and distance on the road, so I find that I can anticipate and avoid most potential problems on the road.

In my experience, many drivers continue to suck, long after they've passed their driving tests. Many accidents occur due to lack of concentration. I'm not a fan of having too many distractions in a car for that reason. I heard that a new Nissan concept car even has an Xbox game available to the driver - not very responsible on the part of Nissan's design team.

I don't have a drivers licence at age 32, for several reasons. First I have Epilepsy, but it's been almost 5 years since I had a serious seizure, so I'm actually allowed to drive now.
I have really crappy short time memory (it just took me a week only to learn the first verse to my favourite song, Metallica's "The Unforgiven"), so learning an entire theory book would be difficult for me. I also have trouble concentrating myself "on command" and I'm afraid of loosing my concentration and freaking out and shutting down in traffic. I have coordination problems so I would need an automatic. I really miss being able to drive long trips, if I had a car I would only drive very long distances with it. I have planned so many shopping trips to a city three hours drive away with my parents only to have my parents call me the night before cancelling the whole thing.
It took me a long time to finally accept that I will never be able to get a drivers licence and that I never should drive either.

You don't have the option for "I want to get a driver's license, but I don't have one yet." I should be getting mine soon.

I don't want a drivers licence.
I never attempted one, and I am 23.
Cars create too much consumption, deplete resources, plus those wonderful greenhouse gases!
I save a lot of money not having to make car payments/gas/insurance.
Also, public transportation is safer, and more interesting because you dont have to focus on the driving part. You can look out the window and listen to music and read if you want.
I live in an area where the public transportation is decent.
But later on I will live on an island, and I will get a horse instead.
Even if I was forced to get my licence, I dont think I would enjoy driving. I would probably have trouble paying attention.

I'm 27 and I think I got my license when I was 22, but since then I've never driven without someone else in the car, except for backing out of the driveway a couple times for my mom. I haven't driven at all in more than two years, which has probably actually made things worse. When I drive, I have trouble noticing things and concentrating on everything at once (it all happens so fast!), I get lost very easily, and my depth/speed perception could certainly be better. I think my main fear is that I'll do something stupid (like have another driving meltdown behind the wheel) and hurt or kill someone else. I'd like to say "I give up" and never renew my license again, but deep down I think I know that driving is the key to so many other things in my life. I don't like Fresno's buses, I've never been on a date, and eating lots of delivered food probably isn't the best way to do things...

I got mine when I was 18. That was the minimum age for Vic, Australia at the time and still is. In South Australia it was 16 at that time, but I think that has been lifted to 18 since then.

The worst accident I had was when I wrote off the car after I hit a tracker that pulled out in front of me as it was towing a plough. I blamed an idiot NT drunk farmer for that.

I either take the Bus, or I walk.