History Ryan's post reminded me about getting my drivers license

I vividly remember the man with the cigar waving me over a asking me my name and what car would I be taking the test in, I remember him asking me to turn on the lights, give turn signals, blow the horn and ask me if the car was equipped with seat belts?



The car was a 1962 Ford Galaxie 500 and it did have seat belts and I put mine on, I also remember he didn't and thought to myself he is a brave man.

I had to give a turn signal and a hand signal to pull away from the curb and he directed me to the place in the highway departments parking lot to parallel park and I was afraid that would be my pitfall but surprisingly enough I passed that part with flying colors.

Everything went well until I had to do a 3 point turn on a narrow side street and as I backed up I ran over a pile of leaves that had been raked to the side of the road and the home owners had been doing some work around the yard and threw some rotten wooden fence post in the pile but several of them were attached to what I call chicken wire.

As I pulled away we heard a huge racket and I was dragging about 20 feet of wire fence,fence post,leaves and limbs that caught on the edge of the bumper the instructor said pull over,stop the engine and turn on the emergency lights.

I did as instructed and he preceded to untangle my newly acquired addition, he told me to get out and help drag the trash back across the street and when we got back in the car he said go back to the highway department , my test was over and I cranked the car and gave a signal as I was attaching my seat belt and returned to the DMV.

All the way back seemed like a hour but in reality it probably wasn't 5 minutes and he never said another word, he didn't have too I knew my dreams were shattered and I was going to have to take the test again.

I pulled up to the parking place and he handed me the piece of paper he had been scoring me on and right across the top it said PASSED,I was shocked but didn't say anything I went inside to get my permit and overheard him and another officer laughing about what had happened and that was the first time something like that had happened.

It's ironic as to how one of the most important days in a teenage boys life is getting that drivers license and how much I remember about that day. HRP

 

I still drive the streets around the neighborhood where the DL Testing station was located every day. I work about 4 blocks away from it

 

The morning of my 16th birthday I was first in line waiting for the DMV to open. I had been there since 7:45, they opened at 9A M. Permit in hand, I walked in, nervous as hell. I knew how to drive on the street. I had been driving with Dad for 6 months. The lady at the window gave me some papers and told me to bring the car around to the testing area. I would be taking the test in our '58 Ranchero, the one with the Les Ritchey built 390. After a few minutes a man came out and got in the car. We drove around some city streets, then up on the freeway. I did the parallel park deal, then he told me to drive over to the new mall. He had me drive to one end of the parking lot where there were no cars, and told me I probably couldn't do it, to try to do a figure 8 backing up. I thought about it for a minute, picked out what I thought would be about the right spot for the middle of the 8. I checked the mirrors, and proceded to back a near perfect figure 8. When I looked over at the DMV guy, he looked stunned. He said " I have had a lot of people try that, and the only ones that have done it were big rig truck drivers." He asked how I learned to do it, who taught me. I told him that was the first time, but I had been backing a race car trailer down our shop drive way for almost two years, and the figure 8 was actually easier. He said I've seen enough, go back to the DMV. I parked where he told me, and waited for him to say something. All he said was "I noticed you brake with your left foot, why do you do that?" I said I guess because I had been driving some kind of race car since I was 10, and that's how they are set up. I though I was going to catch hell, and he said" I wish everyone would do that, the improved reaction time might save some accidents". "He said you passed kid, tell your Dad he did a good job." That was my one and only time driving at the DMV. I drove home, dropped Dad off, and went and got a couple friends, and ran a whole tank of gas through that Ranchero!

 

I took my exam and felt I had done everything just fine. So we get back to the SOS station and he says I guess you were a little nervous out there huh? Uh, why? Well you missed one of those four lettered red signs out there. I about died, but then he said don’t worry, other than that you did great. Success!

 

Great read Dean. HRP

 

I don't remember my driving test, other than it was in my '63 Valiant. But, I believe I was more nervous at 43 getting my Race License in England. Driving at speed, on a Race Track, and having to hit the correct entry and exit points at all the corners with the tester in the car with you. The car wasn't an actual race car though.

A couple of years after getting my Driver's License, I was in a Safe Driving Rodeo. There was an article in the local paper about the Rodeo and the only picture was of me parallel parking and the caption said "Making it look easy". Still have the article and patch from the Rodeo. Ron

 

{ Stories at the D.M.V. }. I have two. The first one is mine. The day that I turned 16 my dad and I went to the D.M.V. to get my drivers license. I was there before they were even open. We were driveing my dads new 1967 Pontiac Bonneville convertible. { I still have that car.} I could quote the driver's D.M.V. study booklet word for word. This was before they offered driver's ed. at our school. I knew with out a dought that I had aced the written part of the test. Now it was time for the second part, the driving test. I'd put the top down so I could see better. I figured if the officer wanted it up, he would ask me too. It was a little chilly that day. Yeah, how we all can remember all the little details of that very important day. lol He had me drive around town. At one point on main street, he ask me to parallel park. I don't think he really thought that I would even try it. But I had been practicing between two stepladders at our home. Over and over again, with this same car too. He looked a little shocked, when I did it perfect on my first try. Needless to say, when we retuned to the D.M.V. I got my new driver's license Yay! BEST DAY OF MY LIFE, well up until then that is. lol Now for my second story. When my dad went to get his driver permit. It didn't go so well. First he used my grandads very old, and beat up, 31 Chevrolet sedan. A farmer who kept a car 20 years. When the traffic light turned to caution, my dad hit the brakes. The driver behind them rearended the old Chevy. The officer got out and went back and gave the driver a ticket. Dad did get he's license that day. But to be in an accident on the day that you get your license. lol Ron.......

 

I don’t remember much about my driving test, other than a few things. It was in my moms ‘69 Firebird around 10:30 am. I passed, got my license and took mom home and she let me take the ‘57 back to school.
That was on a Wednesday. I drive to school the rest of the week in the PU.
Wow, I had total Feedon! That Friday night I left my girlfriends house and rolled through a stop sign, small town with 2 police cars, well, one happened to see me. Have me a ticket. Got home 20 minutes late and mom was waiting for me. She took my keys from me until the court date
I was back on the bus for a few weeks.
What I recall was walking to the burger joint that next Monday for lunch thinking “how the heck am I going to survive waking for two weeks?” This after driving for only 3 days

 

I taught Brenda how to drive, she wanted to take her test in the '63 MG Midget her dad had bought her to learn how to drive, it was a 300 dollar car and the day she was scheduled for the test the car wouldn't start so she took the test in her mom's 1965 4 speed Mustang.

She did pretty. she past the first try. HRP

 

Always remember that important day. Thought my parents were evil because they made me go to school before the DMV trip. Took the test in the ‘53 Willy’s Aero I had been fixing up the previous 2 years.
2/3 through the test the examiner asked if I was in a hurry to get back to the DMV. Told him I had all the time he needed. He then asked if I wasn’t in a hurry why was I doing 40 in a residential area. He passed me anyway with a warning to watch my speed.

 

I also remember taking my motorcycle test, I was 24 at the time and had a 1956 HD Pan head chopper with a long springer front end and knew there was no way I could do a slow ride in and out of the tight pylons without putting my down.

So I borrowed my father in law's 125 yamaha street/dirt bike and I nailed the course. HRP

 

I lived for the day I turned 16 in October of 1967. My Dad took me to take the test right after school which I passed, at that time in Ohio you had to drive two weeks on the permit until you could take the driving test. When the two weeks were up I took the test and passed. I didn't have insurance on my 55 Buick yet so Dad let me take the 63 Wildcat that night. I had a date with a girl from school, we rode around a while and I stopped at the Gulf station where my buddy worked. When I pulled out I naturally had to lay black marks off the lot and on to the street. I didn't see the city cop at the red light until he lit me up!! The first thought I had was this is the end of my drivers license as Dad would be really pissed. I jumped out of the Buick and jerked the hood up, grabbed the oil breather cap and wedged the accelerator linkage open with it. The cop walked up and started giving me hell. When he ask for my license I gave him my papers they gave me that day so I could drive until they sent my regular license in the mail, he was NOT impressed! I told him I didn't know what happened as I started the car to leave , put it in gear and it just took off, scared me to death. The cop took his flashlight and looked at the cap stuck in the linkage. He said "Kid, I have heard every lie and excuse in the book, it sure is nice to find you are not just pulling my chain" I told him they had just put oil in the engine and must not have got that cap on tight. He even pulled it loose and put in on the valve cover for me! He told me to sit a few minutes to calm down before taking off again, have a nice night and be safe. And that was my first day driving legal, I somehow forgot to tell my Mom and Dad of this adventure.

 

I actually only vaguely remember my test. We did have drivers ed in HS but since we can drive at 14 in South Dakota most all of us had been driving for a couple years by the time we took it. It was good for a reduced insurance rate tho so we all took it our Sophmore year when it was offered

 

i had driver's ed in high school. once you successfully passed it, you didn't have to take the driving test, just the written.

i was grandfathered in when the CDL licenses came out so i didn't have to take the driving test, just the written.

my buddy in ABATE kept after me to get my MC endorsement so i took the riders course with a couple of friends. once successfully completed, i didn't have to take the riders test or written.

 

Took my test in my Father’s Fairlane. I don’t remember the guy asking me to parallel park but I did have to pull over to the curb and back up straight along it. The worst part was when I went through a right hand curve too fast, all he said was “ That’s what the brake is for”. Dad used to armor all the***** out of the bench seat and the instructor was sliding around. I still passed

 

Maybe ya all get a laugh, or I might get banned

I did not finish high school, so no drivers ed for me or drivers lic when 16. Had to wait til 18.
I had taken a summer job working for the city water department ... was a summer youth program.
I was a good worker and they liked me .... then I got transferred to working with the dog catcher I was 17 at the time. Few months go by and dog catcher quits. Chief of police offers me the full time job working for the city. I accepted, seems I forgot to mention I had no drivers lic til 18 in a few months.

So I was sworn in as a officer in order to write tickets, drove the city dog catcher van, often was used as a gopher to shuttle police cars to the mechanic and back .... I finally turned 18 and was legally allowed to get my drivers lic.
A couple weeks had passed because I did not want to ask for time off to get my drivers lic.
Of course the inevitable happened, new health care plan or something, chief of police asked me for my lic to fill out the paperwork ..... OH GAWD was he pissed when he found out. He pointed his finger at me and said you go right this min and get your lic!

Actually went really well, I was driving my 69 mustang fastback, 7" pro stock hood scoop, L60 15" tires on rear, air shocks, traction bars, headers/glass packs Typical kids hot rod of the era.
Driving instructor wrote me up for 1 issue, parallel parking. I backed it in perfect, but did not pull up to center it in space ... I was ready to pull back out. I passed.

I walked into the police station waving my lic, chief barked some orders at me turned his back to hide his laughter.

 

I took my driver's test in my 54 Mercury Convertible. It was my car, but my mother had been driving it for the two years I had been working on it while waiting for my 16th birthday. The tester got in and told me to leave the lot. The lot exit was narrow and I ran one of the rear wheels over the curb while leaving. He didn't say anything about that, but at the first stop sign he asked me just what I thought the sign said. I said stop and he said yes, not almost stop like you did while shifting into low gear (just like my mom and dad always did). We finished the test and were back in the testing station lot when he said that I had just won the rubber baby buggy bumpers. I look at him with a blank stare, he laughed and said you passed kid.

 

Drivers License, 1964 on my 16th birthday. A Very Big Deal for any 16 old in the 60's IMO. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I had been driving with my older sister for well over a year, in/out of town, her job required her to travel statewide at least once a week sometimes 2 times, so I cut school and went with her, I had around 5000 miles of experience driving with her, many good memories, I miss her. I was a little nervous as in Milwaukee they seemed to fail most kids the first time, took the test in her 58 Ford I had been driving all this time. Off we go for the test, I drove a few blocks, left/right turn, pull over to curb and the instructor asks me, John, just how long have you been driving ? before I could answer he said, you passed, take us back back to the station. Total Freedom ! Got home and jumped in my 57 Chevy I had been working on and went cruising and still cruising after all these years.

 

I took the Motorcycle test sometime in the late 80's. I had been riding for years and only found out I was suppose to have one after a friend that I rode with at that time got a speeding ticket and a ticket for not having the cycle license. News to us, so................ I stop in at the DMV, take a little written test and asked for an appointment for the test, took the test, it was set up in a parking lot, easy/peasy exception you had to do figure 8's through a series of cones, never did this, never practiced anything like this. so......... I did it, knocked over 1 cone, I'm riding a full dresser bike. The instructor stated, nice job, you can knock down 1/2 of them and still pass. No big elation over this driving test, just got it to satisfy state law. I was a good/safe rider, 36 years only down 2x, 1 my fault, 1x avoiding an****hat trying to kill me, which that type of event got to be too often in later years, got off cycles 2010 at 62

 

First test I took was in San Diego, 17 year old sailor ... been driving since 11, being an Idaho farm kid.
Did a fine job on all the driving skills in my '57 Dodge hardtop, but he gigged me a point because he didn't like my "unusual grip on steering wheel."

 

I had two different driving tests ten years apart - (1979) 15+++yo and (1988) 25yo.

15yo+++: In North Dakota, you could get your license at 15&1/2(?) if you had passed HS drivers-ed, and had a B+ grade average, is my memory of it.(farm kids could get their license at 14yo) Only thing noteworthy, was the parallel parking. I was a bit nervous about it as I had what I considered a 7 of 10 success ratio. 7 out of 10 times I could do a good-great job parallel parking, but those other 3 times I would make a mess of it. Come the day of my test, the tester and I have been driving around and we get on a side street where he decides he wants me to parallel park behind a single car. He told me to imagine the 2nd car behind me and told me to use a tree(?), streeet sign(?), hydrant(?) that was about the right distance away from the 1st car to demarcate the space I'm supposed to park in. So I had to do an imaginary parallel park which I don't know if it was easier or harder in retrospect, but I got the job done & passed.

25yo - moved to Washington state and had to repeat both the written & driving tests for reasons I don't remember. Although, I remember I had one year to do so after becoming a resident. On the day of my test it was cold & rainy. I lived in an apartment that was literally 2-300 yards away from the testing site. So my not so warmed up '64 Impala convertible with a slightly leaking heater core and I turned up for the test. I had to pull over twice during my test to wipe down the condensation forming on the inside of the windows in order to see out - VERY EMBARASSING! but I passed.

Bonus story: two weeks after I got my first license, I was driving the family '70 Galaxie 500 to sophomore basketball practice, where I was rear-ended by a jeep at an icy stop sign on highschool grounds, driven by a senior, trying to get to varsity BB practice. Rear end of car was destroyed. I took it home, and had just finished telling mom what happened when my dad came home. He saw the car and immediately came in the house yelling at me & ripping me a new one about '... is this what I can expect now that you have your license...', etc, etc. He was so mad I couldn't get a word in edgewise, before a rare thing happened... my mother loudly RAISED HER VOICE and told him 'MAYBE YOU SHOULD HEAR WHAT HAPPENED FIRST!'. So, I got to explain, and it basically left my dad speechless but he was still hot about it. Later things took on an even darker tone when eventually the other driver & his father tried to make it my fault. Yes, I should haven't stopped at a STOP sign - what was I thinking?!

Gotta56forme/Scott

 

Here in Ca you can’t take the test in a manual anymore. Can you still in SC?

 

Here in TX you can. ..... CA has some strange ideas.
Just imagine taking a test for a 18 wheeler ... commercial lic. They have to use 3 pedals.
So saying a driver of a car can not use 3 pedals .... somehow seems wrong.

 

When I was 18 years old, and in the army, I went to get my Connecticut drivers license, as I approached the corner in my sister-in-laws 1954 Plymouth, I put my left arm out the window to signal my turn, and I down shifted from third to second with my right hand. The inspector asked me how long had I been driving. I told him that I had been driving army vehicles for over a year. He didn't even make me try to parallel park, thank goodness. He just said that I passed.

 

Wow, That's strange but I will research the SCDMV for a answer, HRP

 

I only know this because over the past 6/7 years I’ve had 3 kids get their DLs. Just bought the oldest a 5 speed economy car, to get her ready for the T56 going into her real car. Lol!

 

I looked at the site and it didn't have anything about not using a straight drive car or truck for the drivers test, so I called the local DMV and the lady told me you can drive any car as long as the test instructor deems it safe. HRP

 

My 16th birthday was on a Saturday in 1966. Had to wait 2 whole days until Monday morning to get my license. DMV opened at 8am. Was waiting at the door when they opened with my mom's '66 Buick Skylark. This was long before the need an appointment or wait for hours mess at today's CA DMV. Passed with a 100% and was at school for my first class at 9am with my temp license in my pocket. When I got home my home had an errand to run for her. Probably used a 1/4 tank of gas to the store and back.

 

How the heck could you get someone on the phone? Here we call, leave a call back number, and a few hours later the phone rings
Our solice is “you won’t lose your place in line”. lol

 

Shoot now days even with an appointment I stand in line (before C19) for 30-45 minutes to get my number and wait another 30 minutes to get to a window. The times have changed. Lol