Freedom to Drive...

The other day, I had the good fortune of visiting my local DMV. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is the Department of Motor Vehicles. I had the lovely privilege of obtaining a driver’s license since mine had expired two years ago while I was living in London. I had to take both the written and driving exams. The thing that irritated me so much about the process was that I had just been through the longest, most difficult ordeal of obtaining my driver’s license in the U.K. However, now as a result of having obtained a driver’s license in both countries, I am amused at the difference between the two. Hopefully, you find it somewhat interesting as well.

Obtaining a Driver’s License in the United States

I drove to the DMV at nine in the morning disappointed to see that even though they opened at eight there was a long line of people standing outside stretching the width of the building. I walked up and realized they had not yet let anyone in the building. Instead, a disgruntled DMV worker was making his way down the line asking each individual what they were there for and if they had the proper documentation. He approached me and in a harsh manner asked if I had my various documents and upon finding that my car insurance documentation was in the car, ordered me to go and retrieve it. Upon my return, the line of people was slowly making its way in the front door. I entered the door and waited in line to reach a desk where a man told me to sit in a bunch of chairs and wait for my number to be called. Forty-five minutes later my number was called and I was then ordered to go to another line for the cashier to pay for my tests. After waiting in this line, I paid $10 (that’s five pounds for those of you in London) and then waited for the man to hand me my paper test. As I sat on a tiny chair with an attached desk, I answered the fifteen multiple choice questions rather quickly. I then flipped the paper over to discover that the second part of the test was a little matching game where 16 signs were displayed with the 18 labels of each being numbered and mixed up above them (yes, they added to just to confuse me). I checked all the correct answers and finished in a matter of ten or fifteen minutes. I am ashamed to say I missed three on the whole test but you were allowed to miss seven but not eight so I guess I did not do so badly. My preparation for the test had been a few nights of reading through an 80-page booklet of twelve chapters with three to ten questions at the end of each chapter; the exact questions that would be on the test.

After passing the written portion, I then proceeded out to my car where I waited for an examiner to administer the driving test. The test lasted about fifteen minutes and took us through the neighborhoods behind the building. The only two maneuvers I was asked to perform was to park on the side of the road and pretend I was on an uphill incline showing the examiner where I would turn my wheels so that car would not roll. The other maneuver was to back around a corner which surprised me a bit since this is one of four maneuvers you may be asked to perform in London (that is another story though). The driving test book clearly stated that both maneuvers would be on the test. After the test was over and the examiner declared I had passed. I asked what would happen if I had failed. She said that I would have to return inside and get the permission of the manager to retake the test. If the reason for me failing was not dangerous, I could retake the test that day as soon as they could fit me in and I would not have to pay another fee of $10. Wow! Basically, I was at the DMV for most of one morning and came out with my driver’s license after taking both tests.

Obtaining a Driver’s License in the United Kingdom

When we lived in London, I realized my U.S. driver’s license had expired in September of 2006. However, I did not realize this until we were trying to rent a car in January of 2007. I did not get around to starting the process until we returned home from a major holiday at the beginning of March 2007. I was probably a bit lazy as well so I really did not start the process until the end of the month when I sent in my documentation along with my passport to obtain my learner’s permit. I received that sometime near the beginning or middle of April. I then began studying for my written test by reading a book full of one-thousand possible questions that could be on the test. In addition to that, I also had to practice a simulated test on the computer that is part of the written test. After studying for about a month (almost every night), I went to the testing center and took the test. The test probably took an hour or so and consisted of a computer test of about thirty-five multiple choice questions. In addition, there was also a simulated portion of the exam in which you had to tell the computer in a series of computer-generated situations when there was danger that would require caution on the part of a driver. I passed this exam the first time but not without much study and some stress. This exam cost $100 (fifty pounds).

Now it was on to preparing for my driving exam. In order to prepare for my driving exam it was necessary to take driving lessons even though I had been driving for the past fifteen years. I hired a company called BSM and had lovely English chap named Andrew as my instructor. Andrew was pleasant but not very chatty and quite awkward but he was a stickler on driving and doing everything perfectly. I paid twenty-five pounds (fifty dollars) an hour for his services which had to be in two-hour increments. We practiced putting the parking brake (or hand brake as they call it) at each compelled stop (signal or stop sign). We also practiced turning without letting go of the wheel (no hand over hand in the U.K.) by doing the everso awkward feeding motion. We practiced roundabouts, parallel parking and the other maneuvers required for test. I had heard such horror stories about the driving test and was so nervous (I knew people who had failed the driving test five or six times) that I took a total of twelve lessons or twenty-four hours totaling about six-hundred pounds (or twelve hundred dollars). In the end, I took my first driving test around the first of July and failed; wasting fifty pounds (another one hundred dollars) for that test. I waited the mandatory time of two weeks and immediately took it again, paying another fifty pounds (one hundred dollars). Fortunately, I passed on my second try. The driving test was about a half hour long and required the driver to perform two of four maneuvers, but he/she would not know which two they would be asked to perform. The four maneuvers consisted of backing perfectly into a parking bay (parking spot) tucked nicely between the lines, not one tire could be on or over the line. The second maneuver was reversing perfectly around a corner from a side road to a main road. The third maneuver was to make a three-point turnabout in the road without touching either curb and using your parking brake. Fourth, was paralleling parking. I must say, I was so nervous for my first test that I did not hear my examiner tell me to go left at the roundabout and instead went straight. I was also so nervous that I did not see a temporary stop signal light for some road construction that was red and as a result the examiner had to slam on the brakes to stop the car. The test also consisted of driving on a four-lane road and merging into traffic as well as driving on fifty to sixty-mile-an-hour country road. Anyway, to make a long story short, I finally obtained my U.K. driver’s license after five months and seven-hundred fifty pounds (that is, fifteen hundred dollars) and that does not even count the money we spent to get Charles’ driver’s license.

I must say, I was not happy at all that I had to get a U.S. driver’s license after getting my U.K. license. Therefore, in my new Illinois driver’s license I have the most disgusted, angry, ticked-off face I could muster just to stick it to the U.S. government for not simply just handing me a driver’s license upon viewing my U.K. license….