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When did you get your driver's license?
As soon as I turned 16 years old. 11%  11%  [ 37 ]
As soon as I turned 16 years old. 11%  11%  [ 37 ]
Between 17 and 20 years old. 22%  22%  [ 77 ]
Between 17 and 20 years old. 22%  22%  [ 77 ]
Between 20 and 25 years old. 7%  7%  [ 25 ]
Between 20 and 25 years old. 7%  7%  [ 25 ]
I don't ever want to get a driver's license. 10%  10%  [ 33 ]
I don't ever want to get a driver's license. 10%  10%  [ 33 ]
Total votes : 344

dexkaden
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18 Jan 2006, 4:04 pm

I took driver's ed in 11th grade because my high school guidance counselor thought it would be the best thing to make me fit in, and despite my reservations about driving, I acquiesced...never again did I listen that woman. I failed my driving test because I turned left in front of an oncoming car.

Why would I do something so stupid? Because in the three seconds it took to check my rearview mirror, get into the turning lane and actually make the turn, I completely forgot that I saw a car coming before I checked all my mirrors. No one seemed to believe when I told them my brain had a hard time processing all the incoming information quickly enough, something about me having a high IQ so I shouldn't have processing problems, it should just be like lightning--CRACK! Immediate correct answer.

Anyway. It's been about 5 years, and I am thinking about trying again, but I still have a hard time judging what cars are going to do even when I'm in the passenger seat, so I don't know.



Serissa
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18 Jan 2006, 4:16 pm

Not AS SOON AS I tured 16 but while I was 16, so that was my vote. I was iffy on the road for the first year, then didn't drive again till I was 19 so I'm still only on my second year of drivinmg, but already SO MUCH of it has become automatic! You just need to practice! You can probably do fine. And most drivers suck somewhat starting off, NT or AS. It's why your insurance is so high your first, like, five years on the road. ((And the insuracne being so high then is good reason to get that liscence asap if you want to be able to finance a car!)) I failed the test the first time but passed the second time. Keep at it.



Last edited by Serissa on 18 Jan 2006, 7:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

fahreeq
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18 Jan 2006, 5:34 pm

I got my driver's license during my junior year of high school. I was about 16 and a half. Driving freaked me out, but it sure beat riding the school bus full of idiots every day and having my parents picking me up and dropping me off everywhere.

I'm much less freaked out by driving now, although I get overstimulated really fast. Getting lost and lots of traffic have caused so many meltdowns for me.



Ladysmokeater
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18 Jan 2006, 6:51 pm

i got my licence a few months before I turned 17. I had to take the drivers test 4 times!! !!

Now I have a licence that allows me to drive a fire truck. It was a really haed test, and I had to practice for weeks. I almost didnt pass that!

Both of the instructors that passed me said I was "TOO careful"

HUH?



KingdomOfRats
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18 Jan 2006, 7:03 pm

what is the minimum age people are allowed to get a drivers licence from in America?

UK is 17 or over that but under 18....I think.


I'm unable to drive and don't plan on getting a car,which is a good thing for other road/path users.
My cousins in Donegal/Ireland were driving landrovers,a tractor and a hatchback car perfectly since they were 10,but that was mostly on their own land,and taught by their dad.


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aprillove
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18 Jan 2006, 7:28 pm

i was terrified to drive. i was actually glad that schedules made it where i didn't have to take drivers ed because i was so afraid of being in the car with kids i knew being as terrified as i was. then my parents were terrible about teaching me. my dad was a trucker and expected it to be natural and would yell at me. my mom said right beside with her foot by the brake and then she would always grab the wheel because i was "riding the shoulder." turns out it was because i was seeing double and didn't know it.

anyway, i just stopped trying. then i stayed a summer with my sister and her husband taught me. he was very laid back and knew it was really a matter of confidence, so he let me drive in the high school parking lot for as long as i needed to gain some confidence. i eventually got my license at 17.

i am still a very safe driver.

april


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dexkaden
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18 Jan 2006, 8:13 pm

I know a lot of it is in my head, and I need to "get over it" as my dad puts it, but some of it is just stuff I have to get used to, I guess. I suppose that once I drive enough, certain things will become automatic/habit and I will be able to direct more of my attention to where it needs to go. It just isn't very fun to be driving at night down roads packed with cars with lights reflecting every which way, and then needing to remember the speed limit, what the rule is for turning left, how to change lanes, etc. And then having to change destinations at the whim of the supervisor (i.e. parent) in order to do some errands. But is is kind of rough on the family when I have to be driven everywhere...not to mention the effect is having on my social life. :wink: I just need to make millions of dollars so I can afford a chauffer, eh?


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CockneyRebel
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18 Jan 2006, 9:26 pm

I'm 31, and I don't have a License. The drivers around my town are Idiots. I prefer taking the Bus, or walking. I also want to travel, so I'm putting my Dollars towards that. Yes! I've said it!



airbikecop
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19 Jan 2006, 12:03 am

Yup. I got my permit a few days after my birthday because I had a big test on that day, and got my license a little while later. I wanted to drive, drove for a bit, then got my license after getting bugged about.

Currently drive a '96 Taurus, very little rust, halfway decent interior, a dent or two, LOW miles. Yup, a granny mobile, but rides and handles like a champ. I've smoked a few ricers here and there with it. Now I'm saving up for a Dodge Challenger, granted it comes out....

;)



ADoyle
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19 Jan 2006, 1:24 am

KingdomOfRats wrote:
what is the minimum age people are allowed to get a drivers licence from in America?

UK is 17 or over that but under 18....I think.


I'm unable to drive and don't plan on getting a car,which is a good thing for other road/path users.
My cousins in Donegal/Ireland were driving landrovers,a tractor and a hatchback car perfectly since they were 10,but that was mostly on their own land,and taught by their dad.


The minimum age here is 16, and when I went to high school, they had the classroom portion as a requirement in my sophmore year. I didn't get my license until my 20's and I've never had an accident or ticket. I almost failed the test, but managed to pass it on my first attempt.


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kevv729
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19 Jan 2006, 3:45 am

I was over the age of 25 when I got My drivers licence. Right now I don't drive. the reason why I did not get My drivers licence I was having seizures back then so I could not get My licence.


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Astarael
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19 Jan 2006, 6:56 am

Well I got my Learner's when I was 16 and now I'm 17 and I'm going to be sitting my test before I turn 18 so I voted 17 - 20 although I haven't actually gotten my liscence yet.



Roybertito
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19 Jan 2006, 7:12 am

Errgh, I can't even get my learner's yet, and its infuriating, because I already have a car and everything, an '89 Camaro to be exact, I just don't like walking home from school anymore, it's annoying.


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19 Jan 2006, 8:57 am

I got my license when I turned 16, but it was a long road.
My dad had me start the car (to let it "warm up") every sunday before church starting when I was about 12. Around 13, I was backing the car out of the garage and turning it around in the driveway (no small feat, it was a 1978 Lincoln Towncar. You could land a plane on the hood.)
At 14 I would dive us to the end of the neighborhood.
Then, when I turned 15, I got my permit and my mom said "Cool! Now I have a chauffuer." I drove everywhere all the time for the next year. The day I got my license, she asked if I wanted to take the car out. I said not really, I was kind of tired of driving.
Serissa is right, the key is practice. Once operating the car (brake,gas,steering) gets to be automatic, you can let your attention focus on what's going on around you, like where the other cars are and where you are going.
I'm 40yrs old now and I still get overloaded sometimes and makes mistakes. The best advice my dad ever gave me with regard to driving was "If you find yourself doing something dumb (like turning in front of another car) don't stop, just get it over with and get back to business."



MishLuvsHer2Boys
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19 Jan 2006, 10:44 am

Apparently there is no answer for those of us that don't have a driver's license even though someday want it. I'm 32 and don't have a driver's license.



parts
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19 Jan 2006, 12:02 pm

Got it at 18 we had no car at the time my mom didnt want me going off to college without it so paid for lessons this was in Florida all the roads are strait in grid like pattern left for New England the next day were none of the roads are strait and it snows big supprise it was like haveing to learn again.