PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

I'm old. I learned by (a) observing/learning the differences between my Dad's reserved conservative old-man driving style and surviving my older brother's enthusiastic racer-wannabe Fast-&-Furious Asian-rocket-boy-ness, and (b) hiring a private driver's ed teacher to let me drive for five one-hour stints in a car that had brakes at the teacher's side to slam, just in case I decided to do something risky/stupid. Then it was off to the DMV for the written and behind-the-wheel exam, and BOOM! FREEDOM!!!



How do people learn how to drive these days? Does the DMV test people the same way they've been doing in the past 50 years, or has it changed significantly?

Are people learning on their own with permits and with supervision, or are people taking paid behind-the-wheel classes through schools or businesses?

Have changes in technology affected the learning experience?


Should I be more afraid of new drivers on the road??

Sulu

Voicing my opinion from the Great White North (and with my flame-proof suit on)...

I believe that it should be more difficult -- including requiring mandatory in-car lessons with properly-licensed and recognized (certified?) driving school instructors -- to get a driver's licence.

This is especially important for immigrants who bring their driving permits from their homeland (including the USA) and hope to trade it in for a Canadian provincial licence (I must admit that I do not know what is required to trade in a foreign permit for a local licence). Rules of the road between the homeland and Ontario can be very different -- always drive on the RIGHT, on the road and in the parking lot; pedestrians have the right of way; stop at the solid white line, not where you block other traffic or pedestrians; driving in snow; etc., etc., etc.

FrankReynoldsCPA

I took driver's ed 10 years ago in rural Utah. At the time, you had to be 15.5 years old to get your learner's permit. You also had to be enrolled in a driver's ed course(which was offered as a regular class in high school for half of the school year). So it was a mix of in-class instruction, driving with the teacher(in the special car with the passenger brake), and you also had to put in X amount of hours driving with a parent(I can't remember the number. I think about 1/3 of that had to be at night as well). Then at the end of the semester you took the written exam in class and the teacher administered the driving exam. Then you got your certificate that says you passed. You could then go get your license(or wait until you turned 16. I finished the class about 3 weeks before my 16th birthday).

Utah has changed their system 2 or 3 times since then and I believe they've made it ridiculously easy. I don't know if you even have to take a class anymore and the written exam is now open-book.

I can't speak as to Nevada.

My0gr81

Here in the GTA, there is a shopping center in the north east of the city of Toronto where you can find stores selling booklets with answers to all the questions for the written tests. Those books are in bilingual written form and in trilingual audio format.

One can also hire a driving instructor from there that coaches on how to pass the driving tests in both unofficial languages. In some instances, those instructors also work for driving schools that are authorized to administer the driving test.

Essentially, one can buy their driver's license.

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

They need to start doing the driving exams with a coffee in one hand and a phone in the other to simulate the drivers I see on my way to work.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

fortunately the madness won't go on much longer. small children today will probably not learn to drive (cars will drive themselves).

mmarshall

Although it is true that we generally don't train new drivers as thoroughly as in some other countries, that doesn't necessarily make it a piece of cake. First, there are a lot more rules and regulations on paper one has to learn than when we did in the late 60s. Today's Virginia Driver's Manual today, for instance, is more then twice the size of the one I learned on, simply because roads and driving itself has become a lot more complex, with a tremendous increase in traffic........(I can't emphasize how much).....and, of course, you can now register with your license to vote. And the process of getting one's license itself has changed. When I went through the process, all you did was pass a fairly simple written test on signs, speed limits, basic traffic laws, get into a car with a police officer (yes, real police rode with you in those days, not contractors like now), follow his or her instructions, get back to the station without an accident, and, Presto, you had a license to go drive anywhere in the united States, at any time (unless you were night-limited for some reason or had some other restriction).

Today, however, in some places, (including my own state), once you pass all the other requirements (including your check-drive), you aren't just given a Johnny-Go-Anywhere license. You get a temporary (graduated) license, in stages, that specifically states how many people under 21 can be in the car with you, what hours you can be out at night, how far you can drive from home, a stipulation for NO alcohol in the blood while driving, and other requirements. Pass them OK, and you get another, less-restrictive license, and so on, until you are rewarded with your permanent license.

I myself have long been of the opinion (and I've stated this before), that all new driver-candidates should be required to spend at least one Friday or Saturday evening at the nearest hospital emergency room, seeing for themselves the results of alcohol, aggressive driving, and other careless or stupid things behind the wheel. A physician or other official hospital official would actually document the time spent there, the number of emergancy-cases that came in for the candidate to see (obviously it would be a waste of time if no cases were there)...and that would count towards the driver-candidates's requirements. But, so far, I don't know of any state that has actually adopted that rule.

Nextourer

Agree 100%. At least for people moving to Canada, a simple written exam (same one locals take before obtaining an "L") should be mandatory so that the drivers understand the local signs which may or may not be present in their homeland.

For example, Keep Left or Keep Right

Most of Europe/Asia (with exceptions) - Keep Left



Mexico (Keep Right)




North America (Keep Right)




Or






For me, I chose to learn with Young Driver's of Canada rather than one of the "local" certified driving schools. YD has classroom sessions which teach you proper driving technique, skill and ICBC's (local provincial insurance agency) "See-Think-Do" strategy (this last bit is also in the book if new drivers read it. There's an extra book called Tuning Up that's an optional read). I'm pretty sure I'm the only one out there doing the S-manoeuvre when turning left for example. The last time I saw someone do that was over a decade ago. The S-manoeuvre makes sense and makes turning left a little easier. That's something you don't learn from the local driving school (otherwise I would see more people doing it).

Taking those lessons halves the Learner's permit time and halves the Novice probationary period so I was one of the first in the class to get my full driver's licence after a year (Graduated Licencing was 6 months for L and 18 months for N. Now it's 12 months for L and 24 months for N and the halving of the probation periods still apply if you take a lessons from a certified school or instructor. There are also stricter rules for Novice drivers now such as no more than 1 other person in the car unless they're immediately family members or there's at least one person in the car older than 25 with a valid driver's licence). I don't know how the exams are conducted now but they were pretty strict back then. You had to back into the spot at the end of the test, you had to parallel park (sometimes more than one occasion). You have to know the proper way to stop at a residential intersection, marked and unmarked if there's an obstruction like a row of trees (FYI, you have to stop twice. I'll let you think about that). If you follow traffic and stop on the railway crossing (any part of your car that isn't completely cleared of the tracks), that's an automatic fail. If you hit the curb while turning, that's an automatic fail. There's also a portion of the test that assesses your sense of awareness (which is also taught at YD). You have to identify road hazards (e.g. a car is indicating to turn left in front of you or there is a group of people approaching the corner of the intersection and they might start to cross or there's a large truck parked at the side of the road and it's a possible blind spot for you as someone could walk out in front of the truck and into your path).

These were the things I had to do that my dad didn't when he got his licence. I don't think the test would be any easier today. It's in the interest of ICBC to make the test tougher and educate drivers to minimise auto insurance claims down the road (after all, there's at least 50 years of driving ahead of those who are getting their licence at 16)

mmarshall

I can just see it now.........in NASCAR and F1, instead of actual drivers, racing cars will eventually just have dummy mannequins sitting behind the wheel LOL.

Nextourer

Sounds like B-Spec Mode in Gran Turismo lol.