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

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HOTRODPRIMER, Nov 25, 2020.

  1. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,969

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    Wall of shame......took me 3 times to get mine!

    I learned in our 67 Ford Custom 500, but since it had manual steering, my Mom decided I needed to use my Grandma's car with power steering instead- a 68 Olds Delta 88....land barge! Done fine on the test until the Trooper wanted me to parallel park in a spot nowhere large enough for a mid sized car, much less the Olds. Couldn't get it nowhere near in the spot, failed.

    Second try, in my Aunt's 74 Gran Torino. Aced everything including the parking, but failed to turn my wheels on the park on a hill deal. Failed again!

    Third time was the charm! Same car, different Trooper. First two times had a real grump, last one was younger. Aced everything, didn't make me park though, had me stop at a eye doctor because he had a screw fall out of his glasses! Mom was worried because it took so long, but was relieved when I got back with that paper with PASSED written on it!

    I grandfathered on the CDL when they came into effect. I had been driving semi's for several years before they started those, so all I had to do was pass the written test. For years before that, a valid license allowed you to drive anything from a motorcycle to a semi. One year I noticed a new endorsement on my license when I renewed it, they gave everyone over a certain age a motorcycle license endorsement even if they had never been on a cycle, even my Mom got one, LOL! But they came out with a boat license later on, any boat with a motor you have to have a license to operate it. I never took the test, because I had sold my boat years before and never wanted another one!

    I was told that if you take the CDL road test in an automatic truck, they put a restriction on your license that you can only drive an automatic. Don't think they do it on a regular license, just the CDL.
     
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  2. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 14,698

    Budget36
    Member

    The two best days you own a boat? The day you buy it, and the day you sell it!
     
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  3. 34Larry
    Joined: Apr 25, 2011
    Posts: 1,748

    34Larry
    Member

    Had been 16 since April. Renton Washington by high school FB stadium and Boeing plant, WSP licensing office. Dad had promised if I got my license I could take his '53 Merc. stick/OD to the Friday might sock hop with the young lady of my choice. Had completed DE earlier that year, (1955).
    So.................
    1. Scared shitless
    2. State trouper, Paul Bunions equal in stature.
    3. Start drive, left foot on clutch shaking uncontrollably really bad on that clutch. (sure was hot in that car for a rainy day)
    4. First command.........."Turn right", foot is only giving me up when I need the clutch.........good !
    5. Second command. "Turn left, next cross street"
    6. Third command after making the left. "Did you see the stop sign at the intersection"
    6.5 "no"
    7. Forth command, "Go back to the licensing center"
    8. "Better luck next time" as Mr, Bunion leaves the car.
    Now its an hour later and we are up on the hill in Skyways WSP licensing center. Some time later that afternoon and after doing an absolutely outstanding test drive this time, Mr. Bunion II says, "Congratulations give this to the lady over there, she'll give you a temp license, the good one will be in the mail" (good thing there were no computers in those days, I'd have been done for)
    Took the Merc. to the shock hop, had a great time with the young lady in tow, came home still a virgin and called it a lesson in life in more than one way.
     
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  4. spanners
    Joined: Feb 24, 2009
    Posts: 2,197

    spanners
    Member

    In the state of Australia where I live these days if you use an automatic in the test your licence is marked auto only. That is for truck and car. If you want a manual license you either use a manual car for the test or do another test later on. I retired from working for a local council and for a while there they were 'restructuring' and some of us truck drivers were looking at losing our jobs because the garbage truck drivers had priority. It turned out that most of the garbos had auto only licenses and the tippers were all manuals so they paid the garbos out.
    The other funny thing was having to take test runs in trucks for the workshop because the young mechanics didn't have manual licenses or couldn't even park the truck in the workshop because they'd never used a clutch.
     
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  5. partsdawg
    Joined: Feb 12, 2006
    Posts: 3,671

    partsdawg
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Minnesota

    February 1975. Had passed thr written and been driving on a farm permit for a year. Already had a car. The day of my scheduled driving test left home a hour early to go to Rochester Mn. because of black ice. Crept along at 10-15 mph in the 1974 Caprice because any faster it started to slide towards the ditch. Think Mom was nervous because the Pall Malls were one right after the other. Got to the test station and it was deserted except for one car. Went inside and the guy looked up surprised and asked why the hell I was there. Looked up my name and said 'Kid,you must want this license pretty bad to drive here in these conditions' , filled out the form,stamped PASSED on it and told me to drive home safely. Never drove the course. In and out in less than 3 minutes.
    For my MC license I showed up on a Rupp Roadster II minibike that was licensed and had a plate. Aced that test.
     
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  6. 51504bat
    Joined: May 22, 2010
    Posts: 5,219

    51504bat
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    From the CA Driver's Handbook on the DMV
    If your vehicle has a manual transmission, you must use the proper gear and smoothly use the clutch.
     
  7. I honestly believe I took my drivers test on a Saturday morning,I believe back in the early 60's the dmv was open 6 days a week. HRP
     
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  8. It's funny, this was one of the things drilled into my head when my folks were teaching me to drive, in part because my grandfather had a car roll down a hill once, many years ago.

    If you ever been to Seattle, you know it's a fairly hilly place. On my daily walks, I see more cars than not parked with their wheels pointed straight, or even the wrong way. Evidently, parking with the tires in the position that will 'catch the curb' in the event the car tries to roll down hill is not taught anymore based on the number of drivers I see not taking this small precautionary step. Kind of a pet peeve of mine, I guess...

    Gotta56forme/Scott
     
  9. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 19,425

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    the only thing I remember about my drivers test is I took it in my buddies mothers 65 Impala. Couldn't tell ya anything more than that. my Dad was gone and my Mom didn't want me to get a license, she even told me "I don't know why you are taking drivers ed, you are not going to drive my car". that would make a kid today stomp his feet and cry, it made me go find a job and buy my own fucking car.

    I really don't know what made his parents do that for me, but that was really cool of them.
     
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  10. DennyVH
    Joined: Mar 27, 2016
    Posts: 3

    DennyVH

     
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  11. 51504bat
    Joined: May 22, 2010
    Posts: 5,219

    51504bat
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    My wife took her driver's license test in her brother's '64 LeMans while he was in Viet Nam. Took her years before she told him.
     
  12. My first test didn't go so well.. Did everything the DMV guy had asked of me ( 15 minutes into the test, back around the corner , parallel park.. check good to go.. So traveling up S.72nd street ( four lane road) I'm in the far right line ( with traffic backed up behind me) Instructor says make a left hand turn at the light.. I explain to him we are in the wrong lane and traffic is backed up to the next block behind us. So he tells me to drive forward, right at the light.. and with in 3 minutes we are back and DMV. Doesn't says a thing.. writes a note on my exam.. hands it to me.. written in big letters "CAN NOT SHOW VERBAL CONTROL OF CAR".. I show it to my brother and he laughs his ass off.. My Mom just said what did you do or say ?.. Some how this DMV guy knew my Dad from the Masonic Lodge in town.. Cuz I got a ear full from Dad when he got home from work( he managed the local Oldsmobile/Mazda Body Shop ) > The guy told my Dad I talked back to him.. Which I didn't , just trying to explain the traffic situation.. After telling my Dad the whole story and showing him the paper.. He laughed and well try it again son..
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2020
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  13. dan c
    Joined: Jan 30, 2012
    Posts: 2,572

    dan c
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    at age 28, i needed a chauffer's license to drive a big truck. aced the written and took the driving part in a new camaro! only thing i did wrong was not cutting the wheels in after the parallel park. the officer deducted 5 points, and said, "don't feel bad. in missouri, NOBODY gets a perfect score!"
     
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  14. DennyVH
    Joined: Mar 27, 2016
    Posts: 3

    DennyVH

    My first posting.
    I got my license in 1955, the day after I turned 16. I used my Dad's 54 Chevy.
    Two things I remember and have always kept in my mind to tell any officer that would stop me for doing them.
    I came from a side street on to a 6 lane divided street and he told me to turn left about a half a block away. I arm signaled as I turned in to the curb lane and he said to just GO across all the lane at once.
    Then at the next intersection the light just turned yellow as I was almost to the crosswalk and he said GO.
    He said if you enter the intersection on yellow you have the right away.
    Thank fully I have never had a officer stop me for either of these situation.
    Denny Forsberg
     
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  15. Hemiman 426
    Joined: Apr 7, 2011
    Posts: 704

    Hemiman 426
    Member
    from Tulsa, Ok.

    I took mine in a 66 Country Sedan Station wagon. No Power Steering! The 3 move turn around in the parking stall was a killer!
     
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  16. My 16th birthday was in early March, but my parents wouldn't allow me to take the driver's test until school was out. The first Monday of summer vacation, my best friend and next-door neighbor, Wes, drove me and my parents' car to the test site. I took the test, parallel parked perfectly, then the tester said, "Best job I've seen all day. Now back up and pull away." I backed up into the little dowel that represented a car behind me. He marked off 9 points. I barely passed, scoring one point more than needed. On our way home, I blew through a stop sign and was shaking the rest of the way home. I got three tickets in my first six months and damned near lost my license. I eventually became a better driver.
     
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  17. BamaMav
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 6,969

    BamaMav
    Member
    from Berry, AL

    My boys had to do that three point turn, but they didn't do that when I got mine. They didn't have to park on a hill like I did, either. Guess the state figured out there were more people turning around on flat ground than parking on hills in AL!
     
  18. I knew how to drive well before I took driver's training. The instructor asked who knew how and he made sure two of us weren't in the same car. We had '56 Ford 4 door sedans, V8 sticks. First day out he hands me the keys and said something like, you drive first hotshot. I drive out of the lot, he's says turn right and then he says go down to the of the block and parallel park in that open spot. I did it in one. He says turn off the car and get in the back. I didn't drive again for about 3 weeks. He had his hands full with the other guy and two girls.
     
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  19. LOL...great topic and stories!

    I went through driver's ed classes, like all the other kids who reached the ripe old age of 15-and-a-half in suburban Kansas City. My parents weren't too keen on me getting my license - they'd gone through three other kids, including a sister who couldn't keep a car on the road and a brother who, unfortunately, was expensive to insure because he was male. The family budget was not prepared to take on another non-female.

    Still, I got my learner's permit - I carefully practiced and studied the heck out of the manual. I drove my brother's VW Super Beetle, learning to drive a manual in the process, and friend's cars. Practice and study. Practice and study. I was ready. I convinced my dad that I would be a valued asset to the family, helping to shuttle people around (all the older kids had already left the home). That seemed to help.

    And then to the DMV. Remember all the practice and study? I flunked the freakin' eye test.

    So the battle was rejoined. A year later I had glasses, my parent's blessing, and a freshly minted license in my possession.
     
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  20. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,609

    Boneyard51
    Member

    I turned 16 on Wednesday , the license place was only open on Tuesday and Thursday! I was there 8:00 AM the Thursday after my birthday, in my ‘55 Ford. I made 100 % on the written test! But the driving test, not so good! I had been driving for six years , here in Oklahoma, by that time. I guess driving with one hand and elbow out the window, is incorrect. As is a California stop. But the one funny thing is he tells me to parallel park, up there pointing to only one car. I just drive up to the back of that car. He said “ no , I wanted you to pull up and back in” I say “ why, there wasn’t a car there”. I then said “ you want me to pull out and back in? “. He laughed and said “ no, you’ve been driving a long time , haven’t you? “ I replied “ yes, now did you know?” He laughed and said” you already have all the bad habits! “ I passed, but just barley! Lol










    Bones
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2020
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  21. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 14,698

    Budget36
    Member

    interesting, I wonder if I read it at the local DMV, I know I didn’t make it up!
     
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  22. spanners
    Joined: Feb 24, 2009
    Posts: 2,197

    spanners
    Member

    Over here you were eligible for a learners permit at 16 and 9 months and license at 17 y.o.. I did the test in a mate's car, an AP5 Valiant. Stock standard, auto in 1974. My personal car was a modified 57 Holden. You know the type. Wide wheels, loud exhaust, mis-matched paint and floor mount gearstick through a chisel punched hole, no rubber boot. Not exactly suitable for license exams.
    I had to jamb my left foot under the seat to stop from using it on the brake of the auto as that was an immediate fail. I'd been using it for years like this to park cars in my Dad's workshop business. Give it some gas and ease the brake off and on to squeeze the cars into tight spots at the end of the day. I still use my left foot for braking if driving my wife's auto shopping trolley.
    Aced the driving part of the exam but stuffed up on the written because as usual hadn't done my homework. I could've went back later in the day to resit the written but the examiner said if he passed me I'd go out with my mates and get pissed and crash because it was my birthday. Had to wait till the Monday morning to go back and get it. What he didn't know was I'd been driving without a license for years including that weekend. I used to deliver customer's cars back to their house in the evenings and park in their driveway and jump into my Dad's car before the customer noticed. When I got busted for driving without a license I was on a learner's permit and my Dad couldn't say much to me because he'd been involved in this. What was funny is I got done for no license but also for not displaying an 'L' plate.
     
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  23. My DMV experience was easy-peasy. At 17 I finally took the test. I had a huge morning paper route (remember those?) that I'd had since I was 14 and it required a car to make all the deliveries. Driving those big lonely streets and roads very early in the morning was both a curse and a blessing. The blessing part... not alot of traffic to hit. The curse... plenty of bad habits to get rid of. Realizing this, and hearing all the horror stories from my classmates about the drivers test, I asked around and found a woman who knew my Mom. She had retired from the DMV, and started a business offering a refresher course for serial traffic offenders, to help them pass the driving test for reinstatement. I drive up to her house in my car, alone. She looks a bit sideways at me, but doesn't say a word. We get in hers and I proceed to exhibit about every bad habit known to the driving world (use your imagination here). She asks how long I'd been driving, (about 3 years), and she proceeds to spend the next hour slapping my hands, the back of my head, and flicking my ear all the while barking commands. After the hour, she says, "lets head over to DMV, hope you at least got your permit on you." I wasn't figuring on going that day, and told her I was short of cash. She said she'd front it, but we had to go right now, while some of the good habits remained. We get to DMV about 5 minutes before closing, and she walks up to one of the guys behind the counter, has a conversation, then motions me over. Guy shoves some papers at me to sign and says my license should be in the mail in a couple of weeks. On the way back to her house, I ask the question. She just shrugged, said she'd taught him, told him she had a roast in the oven, and that I could drive.

    MC license was a bit more tricky. I rode a hardtail Norton chopper, 21 over springer, drag bars, and just a hint of a baffle in the exhaust. It was that hint of a baffle that had started the whole mess to begin with. Got stopped for excessive noise, then was informed I needed a cycle endorsement. Show up on test day, and DMV guy says I can't take the test on my bike because I won't clear the cones. Tells me to borrow a bike. I explain to him about the Nortons funny shift pattern, say I'll be fine, and I'd to give it a try. Made all but the last cone. I'd been practicing on the course after DMV closed. I'd neglected to tell him that.
     
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  24. pwschuh
    Joined: Oct 27, 2008
    Posts: 2,906

    pwschuh
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    My daughter took her driver's test in 2013 with a manual transmission. (No one else she knew her age even knew how to drive a stick.)

    The first time she took the test, her rear wheel touched the curb when she was parallel parking - automatic failure. When you do something that causes you to fail the test you are considered not to be a safe driver, and therefore the Driver's Licence Examiner (in this case your typical middle-aged DMV woman) is supposed to take the wheel and drive your car back to the DMV with you as a passenger. And you guessed it, the DMV woman had no idea how to drive a manual, so she had to let my daughter drive back. :p

    The second time she took the test was with a hard-core looking retired highway patrol officer. When she saw him she was a little nervous, but when they came back from the test he said she was the best driver he had examined all day. That did a lot for her confidence as a new driver.
     
    Last edited: Nov 29, 2020
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  25. dirty old man
    Joined: Feb 2, 2008
    Posts: 8,910

    dirty old man
    Member Emeritus

    In '53 I took the test here in GA. There was an extremely steep hill about a block behind The GSP hdqtrs. The troopers would always do a paralell parking trial in the parking lot and then direct you to the aforementioned hill, where they had you to come to the curb and park, shut off the engine and then restart and pull out and on up the hill to the top at the stop sign for a cross street, pull out and turn right. I took the test in a '49 Ford with 6cyl engine.
    Since all the kids in school knew the drill, we had all practiced that already and did OK, Passed the test.
    Later, in '58 my parents moved to Sacramento, CA, and when I went out there and got a job at Campbell Soup plant, they reminded me that since I was working in CA, I needed a Ca license.
    The test site then was in downtown Sacto and the test started with parallel parking on the lot and then on out on streets of Sacto.
    I was driving the family's '57 Chevy station wagon,a nd tried to drive smoothly and carefully where the trooper directed.
    When we returned to hdqtrs, the trooper said "Son, you're a good driver, and I'm passing you, but you're in CA now, not GA, and folks are always in a hurry, you've got to speed up a bit."
    Despite all efforts, I busted out laughing and he said "What's so funny?" and I replied that I didn't normally drive so slow, but was just trying real hard to drive right for him. He grinned, chuckled and signed me off as passed.:cool:
     
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  26. I have to tell you the first part to make sense of the second part. The first part is, that I was a check pilot in the RCAF, and at the time, held the highest possible rating for an instructor pilot.
    Second part:
    I was teaching my wife how to drive (on the day of the first moon landing). We were out in the Prairies, in middle of nowhere, and she stopped about 100 feet short of a stop sign. Making one of my many poor decisions, I said, "We are so far back, I should have brought a lunch". Needless to say, I was fired on the spot, and I had to get my friend to do the instructing for me. She passed on her first attempt, but did parallel park far enough from the curb that the car looked abandoned, and the person testing advised her to look for spots in the nearest parking lot to her intended destination. Nowadays, the students practice parallel parking but are not tested for this on the exam.
    There isn't much to say about my driver's test, except to say that I did the test in my 39 Ford Coupe, and the test was uneventful.
    Bob
     
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  27. In BC, if you took your license test in a vehicle with an automatic, you were automatically (no pun intended) restricted from driving a car with a standard transmission. I have heard that this is no longer the case.
    I got my commercial license in BC in 1959, 6 months after I got my driver's license. The testing officer made me back the single axle semi the equivalent of two long city blocks, before he was satisfied and awarded the commercial license. I was just grateful that he didn't make me drive down any of the alleyways that I was going to have to negotiate after I got the license.
    There was no air endorsement back then. The person that trained me, had to state that I had been instructed on air brake systems.
    Bob
     
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  28. Budget36
    Joined: Nov 29, 2014
    Posts: 14,698

    Budget36
    Member

    That’s one I recall too. I was about the same age when I got my first street bike, Honda 1100 Shadow... a foreign Harley. Lol. My buddies prepped me on what would happen, so when I pulled into the DMV lot, I looked for the circle you had to drive around. Practiced it for awhile, did the pylon stuff a bit too, then went inside to get ask for my road test

    DMV guys tells me “go through the pylons”. I come back after, he says “do 3 circles in that”. I said “that little thing”. He said “ya, just like you were practicing 1/2 hour ago”.
    Who knew those guys had a window cubicle?
     
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  29. Boneyard51
    Joined: Dec 10, 2017
    Posts: 6,609

    Boneyard51
    Member

    I didn’t want to talk about getting my MC license, but since you guys mentioned it...... Back in 1967 Oklahoma didn’t require one. But when the big change came around about the turn of the century , Oklahoma when to CDLs they also incorporated MC licenses.
    I was working for the city and they had a program where we all went to a school for a couple of days put on by the DMV. Got our CDLs right there. As the guy was filling out my CDL form he asked me if I rode a motorcycle? I said yes, he asked how long, I said since I was 10 years old. He stamped “ MC” on my CDL. Still have that endorsement on my DL, I have never taken a MC test! Lol








    Bones
     
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  30. When I lived in San Francisco I took the state mandated driver education class. We had Chevrolets with power-glide transmissions, and stick shift Fords. I had been driving without a license for a while, so I opted for the standard shift Ford. I was driving, the instructor was in the passenger seat, and 2 girls were in the back seat. As I was driving there were some guys in the left lane heckling me at every stop sign at the third stop sign I had had enough. We drivers looked at each other, and away we went. I blew his doors off. The instructor said pull over and get in the back seat and let one of the girls get upfront. The instructor later gave me a chewing out.
     
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