When did you get your driving license?

[LucyDuke]

So, when did you get your driver's license? Why did you get it when you did? How difficult would it be to live without one where you live? Would you have gotten it earlier if possible? Do you think people should be able to get one at the age you did? Did you get a car when you got your license? Do you have a car now? Are you a good driver? Should we take licenses away from old people? POLL COMING!

 

[SG-17]

I got it a week before I started my freshman year of college. I needed it because I commute to college. I live in a semi-rural area. I live in a city, but it is a small one and all of the large stores are a 10 minute drive away. I would have gotten it earlier if I didn't fail the driving test 6 times. I had a car before I got my license. I tend to go 60 in a 55 (80+ in passing zones) but other than that, pretty good. Give them a test first.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

21 or 22. I had a duff driving instructor when I first tried to learn (at 17, which is the minimum age when in the UK). Got my test on the 3rd go after I finished my degree.

Haven't got a car now, can get the train to work and a taxi if I want a ride.

 

[Boundless]

I got mine on 18th August 2008 after 5 months of learning . Took me 1 go.
Why? Because it would be ridiculous to not learn - especially when you have a job. So many jobs want you to be able to drive I suppose, and because I live in the countryside where public transport is poor, though I didn't get a car for 2 years after I had passed.
I'm a terrible driver, very unconfident, but that's due to a bad accident 5 months into passing and going into the back of an ambulance. Very embarrassing. To cut a long story short, it was my mother's car, it was mother's day, I had forgotten flowers and was out trying to find some. All a big fat fail.

 

[Mise]

So, when did you get your driver's license?
19.

Why did you get it when you did?
I started learning in the summer between finishing school and starting university. I wanted to get it before I went to uni but it spilled over into the following summer.

How difficult would it be to live without one where you live?
I don't have a car at the moment, but it's useful for moving house/flat.

Would you have gotten it earlier if possible?
Not really.

Do you think people should be able to get one at the age you did?
Yeah.

Did you get a car when you got your license?
No.

Do you have a car now?
No. I had a car for a year when I needed it, got rid of it when it became a liability.

Are you a good driver?
Of course. I'm also very fuel efficient.

Should we take licenses away from old people?
Yes.

 

[nonconformist]

Don't have a licence, no point; everything's either within cyclable distance, and there's decent public transport.

Also, I'm under the influence enough to make it impractical to drive.

Oh, and I'm 23.

 

[GenMarshall]

Gotten mines at the age of 20. Would have gotten it earlier if I placed in more effort in learning.

 

[sophie]

I got mine when I was 17, probably about 5 months before I turned 18. I was so late because my parents were concerned about insurance going up so they were reluctant to let me get the license, so I got lazy and didn't finish driver school and didn't get my permit until September of my senior year. I'm so glad I got my license now though, I don't think I'd be able to live without being able to drive.

 

[EnglishCrusader]

I'm only sixteen and in the UK you need to be seventeen to get one, but as soon as I start my Summer holidays next year I'll start lessons. My brother, who is 19 in early September hasn't even tried to get lessons yet. Maybe I'll get my license before he gets his

 

[emzie]

20 (voted 19 cause I remembered wrong, 19 was my learning license) after many years of anxiety about not being able to figure out how to drive. When my dad died, I kinda had no choice but to learn.

 

[Cutlass]

So, when did you get your driver's license?


A month or so after I turned 16 in 1980. High school sophomore.


Why did you get it when you did?


American teenage guy in the 80s. Not getting a license was not an option.


How difficult would it be to live without one where you live?


Not impossible. But fairly inconvenient. I've never had a job I could get to with public transit.


Would you have gotten it earlier if possible?


Probably not. 16 was the thing then.


Do you think people should be able to get one at the age you did?


Maybe, maybe not. We had a fairly high casualty rate back in the day.


Did you get a car when you got your license?


But my parents wouldn't let me register it until I turned 18. So it sat in the back yard for 2 years.


Do you have a car now?


On number 8.



Are you a good driver?


I haven't caused a crash since 1984. Haven't had a ticket in maybe 10 years.


Should we take licenses away from old people?


Yes, but not at a specified date. But rather require a physical every 2 years and let the doctor decide on a case by case basis.

 

[Quackers]

18.
I didn't want to begin learning to drive as soon as I turned 17, I don't know why.
I got a car when I passed, I still have it and it is insured. No accidents yet . I'm a pretty amazing driver.

 

[MeteorPunch]

So, when did you get your driver's license?
15 - learner's permit

Spoiler :

For the issuance of a Tennessee Learner Permit:

Must be at least 15 years of age
Pass a standard vision screening.
Pass the Class D knowledge exam. Practice exams are available online.
If you are under the age of 18, you will also need to have:
A parent or legal guardian (with proof of guardianship) present to sign a minor/teenage affidavit and financial responsibility form.
Show proof of school attendance/progress from a current Tennessee school or a letter from the school in your previous state that confirms your attendance and satisfactory progress during enrollment in that school. This letter must be signed and dated by the principal or guidance counselor no more than 30 days prior to your Tennessee application.
Provide all required documentation.

Why did you get it when you did?
Freedom/School/Friends/Work

How difficult would it be to live without one where you live?
It made life easier, school was 15 mins away, for example.

Would you have gotten it earlier if possible?
No clue.

Do you think people should be able to get one at the age you did?
Yes.

Did you get a car when you got your license?
Yes, really, really terrible 1986 Ford Tempo GL. At least the engine only quit at stoplights a few times.

Do you have a car now?
Yes.

Are you a good driver?
Yes. Fortunate enough to have never been in a wreck despite having several driving jobs.

Should we take licenses away from old people?
If unqualified, yes.

 

[amadeus]

I would have voted 20, but it was about a month before my birthday and I didn't want to have to re-register for a new license so I waited until my 21st.

 

[LucyDuke]

I got mine three months after my 18th birthday, slightly more than seven years ago. My dad bought me a crappy old Celica for my birthday and over-18 requires three months on a learner's permit before you can get a proper license. I could've gotten it a couple years earlier but between parents and friends driving and public transit I got around okay. It's a pain in the ass, but not impossible, to live around here without driving - much easier if you work within walking distance of your home. I wouldn't oppose making people wait until they're even older than 18, provided public transit were expanded, but 18 is reasonable too. I have a car right now, but it's uninsured and sitting in the driveway, instead I use my mother's. I'm a damn good driver, I know how to deal with New England winters, haven't had even the slightest accident or even scratch, only one real moving violation that was so not my fault. I agree with Cutlass - old people should be monitored and be stripped of their licenses when they get too blind or confused or whatever.

 

[SuperJay]

Holy crap that's a lot of questions.

So, when did you get your driver's license?
Learner's Permit at 15 (non-Americans: that means a limited license where you can only drive with parent / adult in the car). Full license at 16.

Why did you get it when you did?
That was the legal age. At the time, not getting your license ASAP was out of the ordinary. You pretty much wanted your license and a car as early as you could possibly get them, because they were integral to (A) partying and (B) fine young ladies. (This sounds like a friggin Dazed & Confused reference, but no, I grew up in the late 80s / 90s.)

How difficult would it be to live without one where you live?
Pretty difficult to get to/from work because I work in a different town than I live in. If I worked here in the same city, it wouldn't be terribly bad as public transport is decent with the university and all.

Would you have gotten it earlier if possible?
Hell yeah.

Do you think people should be able to get one at the age you did?
No, I like that the legal age is later now, and that you have to have more time with a permit first. Simply operating a vehicle on a basic level isn't terribly challenging by itself, but learning not to be a moron behind the wheel is a different story altogether, and kids these days have waaaaay more distractions due to technology alone.

Did you get a car when you got your license?
No, I only drove my parents' cars for the first year or so. Then my mom got a new car and I got the hand-me-down to take to college.

Do you have a car now?
Yeah, I've owned a car ever since I was 18.

Are you a good driver?
Most of the time.

Should we take licenses away from old people?
Not just because they're old, but after a certain age, licenses should be renewed more often and driving / vision / hearing tests required more regularly. (Maybe they already are, I don't know.) Once the kindly gentleman can't pass that test, no more license - but if he's 90 years old and still has the vision, hearing, and motor coordination to drive a car, I'm okay with that.

 

[Arwon]

It's pretty difficult to get a license in New South Wales - 120 hours of time behind the wheel as a learner with a log book to prove it - and I lived in the inner city so I never bothered from the age of 18 to the age of 24.

Now that I'm down here in the ACT, I still get by without a car but I'd like to get my license. It's much easier to move from learners permit (L-Plates) to provisional license (P-Plates) than NSW. All you need to do is a number of lessons with a government-approved instructor, who ticks off all the competency boxes. Then at the end, voila, instant license!

...but I need to prove residency to get an ACT learners. Still haven't gotten myself on the lease to do that, so I haven't got my L's here yet.

 

[Cutlass]

I had maybe 5 hours behind the wheel with an instructor and another 4 with my father when I got my license. Standards weren't exactly strict around here in those days.....

 

[GenMarshall]

I had maybe 5 hours behind the wheel with an instructor and another 4 with my father when I got my license. Standards weren't exactly strict around here in those days.....

What state did you get your first license?

I remember I just had to take a test (Sadly, had to take it twice ) and gotten it.

 

[Cutlass]

What state did you get your first license?

I remember I just had to take a test (Sadly, had to take it twice ) and gotten it.

Connecticut. Remember that I'm 20 years older than you are. It was different then.