Moon failed her friver's test

Thank you! The day I got my license (I was 18, my parents never wanted to take me driving and I had to hire Montgomery Ward's driving school, who would take you to Laramie Avenue DMV for your license when you finished the course.) My dad lent me the keys to his VETTE! OMG, he musta been a brave man. All I had to do was to promise him I would wash it, and not crack it up.

 

That's wonderful, congrats to Moon.

My mother says all the best drivers pass second time, not that she's biased or anything lol.

 

congrats to moon!!!!! she's not alone in failing her first one, either....
Almost everyone I know failed their first test...I did.....I ran a red light. But in my defence, it was yellow when I was at the stop line and I was going too fast to stop (still the speed limit, but you know what i mean). The dude stopped the car in the middle of the intersection with his brake and said, "look up." I did and just then the lioght turned red. That was with in the first 3 minutes of my test and the jerk actually made me finish it. For the next half hour I was kicking myself in the ass while doing everything else PERFECTILY. grrrrrr. The next test that I did I passed (and went to a different registry office so I could have a different tester), but she said that I was too cautious. oy.
Although, in the last 3 almost 4 years since getting my licence, I've rear-ended someone (pop bottle got stuck under my brake), backed into a handi-cap car in a parking lot, and just recently backed into another girl...but she was more at fault for that. She parked her car the wrong way in the MIDDLE of a one-way parking lot, not even in a stall, turned it off, and got out. So the cop who filed the police report sided with me and said that it was a 50/50 fault, so maybe my insurance won't go up....

That's really great of you guys to let your kids just start driving, maggie. My parents wouldn't let me near their vehicles, still won't.
I paid $700 for a shitty driving instructor (should have gone through AMA (bangs head)) who was old and talked so quiet I couldn't hear her....I won't get into my typical rant about her..... I just didn't learn a thing from her and just basically taught myself how to drive when I bought my own car.

 

Oh, I am SO glad she passed!!! Congratulations and YAAAY!!!
love,
mom

 

Yay! I was thinking about you and her on Tuesday, but I didn't want to ask! I'm so glad she got what she needed, and everything's working out. When I first got my license at 16 I was soooo happy to be mobile, I'd already bought a car for my travels (I was a weird and lucky teenager who's parents let me wander around the Pacific Northwest to my heart's desire...) My folks were just glad that I wouldn't have reason to resort to hitchhiking!

That's some seriously messed up stuff going on in your state Maggie. Have you already elected a new gov.?

 

Wow, kinda harsh. Maggie Sugar didn't ask for parenting tips. I don't know how the state laws are up in Illinois, but I know here, the parent who signs as the home driving "teacher" is also the one required to sign the mountains of paperwork required to even begin the process. You have to sign it in front of a DMV employee.

And one more thing, at least in Illinois, a driving test is required to recieve your license. In Texas, when you are 15, you can get your permit by just taking the standard written test and sixth months later, if you've reached your 16th birthday, they just give you your license. No questions asked. The only time an actual performance test is given is if you wait until you're 18 to get your license, or if your parents or instructor request one to be given. (Before I completely assume that you always have to take a driver's test in Illinois, since I've never even been there, is that right?)

I got my license a year and a half ago and I'm still learning how to actually drive. Shows how great the system is here. After I got my license, I was never allowed to drive, so...I still have yet to become comfortable with myself and others' driving. Maggie, make sure Moon gets in lots of practice and gets confident with the road, I own my own car and still refuse to drive it...it's scary out there. Let her drive while she still wants to...lol. And if you can afford it, I'd suggest you have her take a class or two in minor car repair. Unless you know a mechanic who'd be willing to show her the ins and outs of a car. (I got fortunate and my boyfriend comes from a long line of mechanics, he himself is one, lol) It definitely makes things a lot easier when you understand the way a car works.

 

Note to self: don't drive in Texas.

Am amzed things can be so lapse in certain places, it's really quite worrying (yet you're still not trusted with a drop of booze til you're 21).

In Britain you have to be 18 to get a drivers license (used to be 17, but think they changed it recently), and the testing is in three parts; practical, theory, and a 'hazard perception' thingy on the computer. They like to be thorough I guess, though there are still plenty of morons on the road who learnt before.

 

In Germany, you have to be 18 to drive as well. And pay upwards of $6000 for driving school. Germany has excellent drivers.

 

Congrats to MooN!

 

I've spent over $1000 trying to get my licence and still dont have it, at least youre not under the Aussie system!

 

Oh definitely...it's scary to be out on the roads, let me tell you. Amarillo has some of the WORST traffic I have ever seen. It's terrifying to be on the interstate. And earlier today, we were taking a friend home in a town 12 miles from here and school just got out today, so every teenager in the area was out. Made for some interesting times, I almost saw 3 different wrecks in a gas station parking lot. Almost because they were all lucky...but I definitely wanted to get out of there, my poor car already looks sad enough, I don't need someone to try to further "improve" my body work.

 

YES!!!! Thank heavens. Rod Blagoavitch (sp?) is a great guy. Has enacted some good breastfeeding legsilation, it is now against the law to hassle a womyn for BF in publi, and employers have to provide a private place for mothers to pump or feed their babies which is NOT in the vicinity of a toilet! and he has made it against the law for a pharmacist to refuse to fill a birth control or Plan B prescription (immediate revoking of their RpH license if they do this) and enacted a Kid Care program to allow ALL children in the state access to free or low cost health insurance. (and all the fukking Republicans are whining "How are we going to pay for this?" I don't know How are THEY going to pay for the Iraq war? IMO and the opinion of anyone with a working brain and an ounce of human compassion, making sure children have access to health care is MUCH more imporant than bombing Iraq into the Stone Age at a billion dollars a week. Kid Care will cost less than a DAY of the Iraq war in a year!!!!) I really hope he wins reelection in Nov.

In Illinois, the kids need to first pass a written test to get their permits. Then they have to wait a minium of 6 months and get a minimum number of hours, (I could be wrong, but I think it is 35 jhours on the road) notated, and recorded by the parent, in ALL driving conditions. They then have to pass an OTHER written test and then the actual driving test (along with a hearing, vision and reaction time test) to get their licence. IL has one of the most strict drunk driving laws in the country. It is a LOT of paper work for the parents, but it keeps the roads safer.

I am up to my ears in work with a lot of things. I do about everything with the kids in this house. I have four kids and I can't do everything. The actual Driver's Test is Bear's Job. Also. Moon was a VERY cautious driver for the first year she had her permit. I don't think she had the confidence to take her test. Yeah, we put it off a little. but I think closer to 18 is better than on your 16th birthday. (Which you can't do anymore, because of all the driving practice which has to be done before you can even take your first test.)

 

Awesome. I know this is still OT, but I have a feeling (even as an outsider in IL politics - my folks were living in Chicago for a couple years) Obama has also done a lot to turn things around in that state. In the 2004 elections, didn't IL vote democrat by the widest margin of all the states...?

Wow. That is pretty strict. I was in OR (at least my legal residency was) when I got my license. At 15, you can get your permit with a written test, and at 16 (as long as you've had our permit for at least 6 months) you have to take another written test and a road test. It's not a cheesy parking lot course - they actually take you out on the road on an unannounced route, and have you drive and park and yeild and stop and all that jazz. Oregon's also pretty tough on drunk driving - I think it was even the first state to lower the limit to 0.08 (before it was the national limit).
Anyhoo, tell Moon congrats for me again!

 

Yeah, that sounds like our test. Parking, 3 point turns, diagonal and parallel parking, too. The test for a motorcycle licence is even tougher, as it the (now that Ryan and his cronies are facing jail) Trucker's License. Not long ago, though, you could get a license by giving the right people some money, and unfortunelaly, some of those people who were used to gettin bribed to let people pass are stil working for the DMV here. They are woking on rooting them all out, but it is a hard process.

Obama ROCKS!!!! I love the guy. He wrote my dd Moon a personal letter, when she approached him about the Iraq war and her objections to it. She was thrilled.

 

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I wasn't giving parenting advice. Somebody procrastinated until the last minute, she pointed it out herself.

Proaction vs Reaction is always better. Prevents last minute crises.

"“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now”"