Learning to drive in the USA??

Silverdragon102, BSN · May 28, 2007

They have quite a few roundabouts here in Jacksonville,FL and some people get them and some just have NO idea what they are doing. I have seen cars stop on the roundabouts to let cars out...nearly getting rearended in the process!
I am taking my test soon and was thinking of taking one lesson to get rid of my bad driving habits but does anyone think its necessary? Are they as stict overhere as in the UK with the whole mirror-signal-manevour and the hand postion on the wheel,etc??

by all accounts it is easier than the UK. My friend had to do an emergency stop pretty much as soon as he started his test on his which impressed the examiner and she asked him a lot of questions about the test in the UK and he passed and she explained he passed when he did the emergency stop but she loved hearing his accent and was interested on learning how another country did their driving test

suehp · May 28, 2007

We are not able to take our test in FL until we have SSN in hand when we arrive on GC.

Ann you CAN take your driving test without a social security number in Florida as we took ours the vacatiion before we emigrated and then all we did was renew it once we had them....

suehp · May 28, 2007

Hi everyone. I am emmigrating to California next year and I am wondering if anyone could give me some advice about learning to drive over there. I do have a driving licence here in England. Do you have a separate version of The Highway Code and where could I buy one in preparation for my move? I would be grateful for any feedback.
Thanks.

My Husband always says " remember to keep your passenger to the pavement/sidewalk" - that helps me a lot even now when I come home from work after a night shift....lol I still get days when I get confused on which side of the road I am supposed to be on!!!

kalayaan · May 28, 2007

Hi everyone. I am emmigrating to California next year and I am wondering if anyone could give me some advice about learning to drive over there. I do have a driving licence here in England. Do you have a separate version of The Highway Code and where could I buy one in preparation for my move? I would be grateful for any feedback.
Thanks.

its right, do check out the california dmv website. you can print it for free if you want. although, as i remember, california does not accept international licenses. california has all sorts of laws that are a bit stiffer compared to other states.

they also have sample exams on the website which are very useful. just remember that the dmv will want you to pass. theyre not out to fool you to flunk you.

they will also issue you a license if you have a valid visitors visa. i got mine a few years ago and it was valid for as long as my visitors visa was valid.

its fairly easy here, as long as you dont live in los angeles where all the traffic is. california has better traffic signs, at least better compared to the other states ive been in. (not meant to get anyone mad).

just remember that the driving side is diferent here:chuckle

scattycarrot, BSN, RN · May 28, 2007

My Husband always says " remember to keep your passenger to the pavement/sidewalk" - that helps me a lot even now when I come home from work after a night shift....lol I still get days when I get confused on which side of the road I am supposed to be on!!!

It can be confusing! A tip I found useful when I first starting driving on the other side of the road was to tie a string on the side of the steering wheel that you should be driving so if you have one of those...'oh my god,which side of the road am I supposed to be on' moments, you have a quick visual clue.