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

I got my motorcycle license in Annapolis. The driving part consisted of the lady telling me to go down the street and make a right turn at each stop sign. If you come back without any injuries or damage to the bike, you pass.

 

In August my grandaughter took her test after making an appointment pulled up to the check in gate, was handed a speaker phone and directed to a course in the parking lot to drive according to instruction. She passed and was done in minutes. Minimal contact and never left car. He mom was with her and warned to keep quiet lol.

 

Hello,

During the early phase of the pandemic in March, I had to renew my driver’s license. I missed the reservation time line for my renewal, so I made one for March. Upon arrival, I was the second guy in line at 5:00am. I arrived at 4:30 am and was the first in the lot, but was not the first to get in line. A young 20 something guy parked after I did and was the first to get out and in line.

The DMV opened at 8:00am and the line had grown to about 35-40 people. At the time, no one was wearing any masks, but we were 6 feet+ apart in the line and inside at the spaced apart seats. The eye test and computerized test flew by fast. But the kicker was that no credit cards were being accepted and it was cash or check only. Who carries a checkbook around anymore? I had a rare $25 in cash in my wallet, so I needed an additional $15 dollars for the $40.00 license fee. Now, I was stuck, miles away from home, and an ever growing line up inside and outside of the building. So, now what?

Jnaki

A nice young guy that was number 1 in line and I had struck up a conversation about cars, hot rods and other things. We got along well and when we were inside ready for the window services, I asked him to loan me $20 dollars. He instantly took out his wallet and gave me a $20 dollar bill. I rushed over and paid my DMV fee. I waited for him outside and when he came out, we went to a gas station and he said he would just forget the “loan.” I told him I would pay to fill up his truck gas tank not knowing it held an enormous amount of gas. But, it was an emergency and all thing have to be done.

Luckily, his gas tank took $23 dollars and he was a happy camper. What more can I say about the younger generation and adapting to adversity?

P.S.
Since the pandemic is in full force, masks, curfew and all, now, my wife got a renewal notice in the mail, last week. The dreaded notice was official. But, with her March due date months away, she will get an appointment. Just on the chance that there was an exception to the “old age” rule forgivness, she called the DMV and asked about it.

She is so glad to have asked. She was told, as of December 2020, the DMV in California will be giving those that need a renewal, a 1 YEAR reprieve extension. So, now, we are hoping for an end to the pandemic by 6 months…good luck on that. Otherwise, she will have to ask for another extension then. If she has to go into the DMV, she will get an appointment and it will be me in line at 5:00 am for an arrival at 7:30 am for my wife’s reserved spot. That is what love is…YRMV




Contact: Office of Public Affairs
2415 First Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95818
(916) 657–6437 | [email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2020

Temporary waiver allows licenses for drivers 70 and older to be renewed without an office visit

Sacramento – Californians age 70 and older with a noncommercial driver’s license are now eligible to renew online or by mail, eliminating the need to visit a California Department of Motor Vehicles office. Licenses with an expiration date between March 1, 2020, throughout the COVID-19 emergency are eligible.

Through Executive Order, Governor Gavin Newsom has temporarily waived the California law requiring drivers age 70 and older to visit a DMV field office to renew their license for the length of California’s State of Emergency or until modified. The DMV is completing the programming necessary so customers who meet the criteria will be able to complete their renewal online beginning December 6.

Nearly all California drivers are now eligible to renew their license online or by mail – even if their renewal notice states an office visit is required.

The DMV previously provided yearlong extensions to senior drivers with noncommercial licenses expiring in March through December 2020. Those who received the extensions are eligible to renew online.

Commercial licenses, including those for drivers 70 and older, expiring between March and December are extended through December 2020, to align with federal guidelines.

The DMV previously expanded eligibility for drivers 69 and under to renew online, even if their DMV notification states they must come to an office.

Summary of California driver’s license extensions

Expiration month

Status

Age 70 & older (noncommercial)
Age 69 & younger (noncommercial)

Beginning March 2020

Expanded eligibility to renew online or by mail for licenses expiring during the emergency

Commercial (all types, all ages)

March-December 2020

Extended to December 31, 2020

Learner’s permits (noncommercial)

March-November 2020

Extended six months or to a date 24 months from the date of application

The ability for senior drivers to renew online is the latest action to help Californians avoid or delay a DMV office visit during the COVID-19 pandemic. The DMV continues to streamline its processes to limit the time customers spend at an office. Customers applying for a REAL ID are encouraged to fill out the online application and upload the required documents before they come to the office for expedited service.

The DMV continues to recommend that customers use its online services, expanded virtual services and other service channels to complete transactions, including eligible driver’s license and vehicle registration renewals. Customers can use the Service Advisor on the DMV website to learn their options to complete DMV tasks.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/news-and-media/seniors-now-eligible-to-renew-drivers-licenses-online/

 

Wow, ya'll have to go back and be retested to renew? We just go to the courthouse every 4 years and get a new pic taken [and our money, lol]. We also can renew online once every 8 years, they just reuse the last pic. Wife had to renew this year, she forgot, was a month late, but still got to renew online. Easy, peasy!

 

I didn't do my driver's test. Went in to take the test and for whatever reason the examiner had stamped the form already. I was out of there as quick as a flash. No sense pressing my luck.

 

In Arizona the photo that was taken when you get your license is kept on all renewed licenses until you're 65. Yup, my buddy who grew up here is now 55 and his license still shows his 16-year-old self. Doesn't even look like him now!

 

I remember the trooper getting in the car and knocking the rearview mirror up. I looked at him and then I moved it back where I needed it. He said, you passed the first part-do you know your hand signals? I did not show him the hand signals but I said YESSIR! He said ok you will use them throughout the test. So I have my arm out the window and making a left with one hand palming the wheel, he says use both hands and at the next stop sign make a left. Sir, that is a one way street up there. He says go back to the station son you passed. Best 16th birthday gift ever!!

 

Written test wasn't bad. Driving test, 10 Ft. tall State Trooper gets in the car and has to take off his Smokie Bear hat off to do so. Your underwear crawls up in your crack.

 

We have a big dmv locally and they stay pretty busy, you always gotta stand in line.
But there is a small satellite dmv in Belton that is easier to get in and out, the employees are just friendly and more accommodating.

Even in this current environment the phone is answered if it's during business hours. HRP

 

Day I turned 17 was the only one home on the farm. Been driving for years on the road and wanted to make it legal. My car was low on fuel, dad had the keys for the fuel drum and everything else was diesel. Drove the 5 ton farm truck the 30 kms to the local cop shop and fronted up at opening time. The Sgt looked at me and asked what I wanted. Said a licence test as I was 17 today. He asked who drove me there and I explained that I had to as no one else was home. He looked at me, looked at the truck and said he had seen me driving many times in trucks, tractors and cars and thought I had my licence. He then said I can obviously drive and gave it to me on the spot, no test.

 

Here in South Carolina in the early 60's a 13 year old could get a permit and 6 months later you could get a restricted license and at 14 your license.

I was driving my granddad's Ford tractor at 12 years old. HRP

 

Down under, you get a Learners permit around 16 (theory test only), and can only drive with a fully licensed driver beside you. At around 17.5 years old, they go back, do a practical test, and get a Provisional license to drive on their own.

My kids did their Learners permit time learning in a '60 GM Holden sedan... three on the tree, 138ci I6, crashbox, drum brakes. Eldest daughter has her own '62 ute, and rolled up to the motor registry a year ago for her Provisional driver test.



Examiner was stunned, and asked her how she could drive it (young girl, old car) . Daughter laughed, and said of course she could. Examiner got in the car and was startled - couldn't see the speedometer. Daughter had to explain that the gauge needle dissappears when the car is stationary. Examiner was clearly rattled thoughout the test... though the daughter aced it. She's been driving the wheels off the thing ever since (the photo above is at the local drag strip )

Cheers,
Harv

 

Back in the 60's the drivers license testers would show up at the local police station one day a week and you had to go in on that day to test. I got my grandfather to take me in his 61 Chevy Wagon and except for a "Hollywood stop at the first stop sign aced the test.
I'm thinking my wife still holds the record for number of times failing the drivers test in Central Texas. She didn't take drivers ed in school or work to get her license because her dad told her she wasn't going to get to drive the family car around town when she did. She learned to drive in our stick shift 59 El Camino and took her tests in a 69 Barracuda fast back.

 

My mom is 84. I recall her saying something similar. I’ll ask her later

 

@HOTRODPRIMER I like that 62 you took your test in..
I have been looking for one. Was it an XL
Or just a 500?

 

The car was a 500, 390/automatic transmission, bench seat. HRP

 

North Dakota in 54 got my permit at 13, when you turned 14 you got your liscence...no test.
In 63 having arrived in LA from North Dakota, I needed a California driver's license, so I went to local DMV (somewhere around Huntington Park) for my test. Examiner comes out and sees my car.."damn kids, take a perfectly good car and ruin it!" (I was 22 and the car was a 60 Plymouth Sport Fury, dumped in the front, chromies and scavengers out the back) I thought "oh boy, this isn't going to be good". As I started out he yells " get both hands on the steering wheel". So I put both hands on the side. He yells" put one hand at 2 o'clock and one at 7 o'clock!". Now 60 Plymouth Sport Friesland have rectangular steering wheels...do you know how awkward that is
I complied saying "oh, this comfortable". As we went on, he seemed to criticize every move I made. As we were going down a main residential street, the side streets all had stop signs giving us the right-away. As we passed one side street (with the stop sign), he said "well, you just failed right there". I said "why?" He said I didn't have my foot on the brake when I went thru that intersection. I pleaded that it wasn't a intersection, the side street had a stop sign. He says "doesn't matter you failed, let's go back to the station".
Sooo... (this where it gets good)I pulled over to the curb and stop
He says "what you doing?" I told him if I failed, I wasn't going back to the station! He said "but you have to take me back..!" "No I don't, you can get out here or further up the road." Begrudgingly he got out slamming the door and I drove off. I figured I wouldn't be in any trouble cause he was just a civil servant, not an officer of the law. A couple weeks later I went to a different jurisdiction and passed my test !
When I left California to return to North Dakota I had run up 3or4 moving violations that I never answered. I always wondered if I returned and got stopped...

 

I had to go to the DMV in September of 2019 to get a new California drivers license. I was 63 and a worthless left eye with a dense cataract. To say I was scared shitless would be an understatement. You can't fool the DMV, or can you? I sat for almost 90 minutes trying to read the 15 eye charts that were hanging from the ceiling. This was going to be a epic cluster F**K. Finally my number came up and I stepped up to the window. The lady had me read with my right eye first, no problem. Then read the same line with my left eye. I just remembered the first 3 letters from a moment ago and then "cheated" by looking again quickly with my good right eye and finished the line. "PASS" I quickly paid my fee and double timed over to the photo booth and quickly departed. I'm living now in the Witness Protection Program because I cheated at the DMV.

 

Love my Mom's story of getting her first license in 1950. They lived on a New Jersey barrier island south of Atlantic City, but her fathers produce brokerage and packing company was in South Texas. It was six winter months in Texas and six in the summer in NJ. She was in boarding school most of the time since the Tx schools were not so good.

Driving age was 17 in New Jersey and 15 in Texas. In the small towns the Texas Ranger's did the driving tests when they passed through. Mom was in Jersey when she turned fifteen, and the legaliteis of getting her license consisted of her Dad and his friend the Ranger sitting on a bench in front of the Western Union office in Westlaco Texas.
Her Dad: "Dolly is going to turn 15 next week. She's gonna need a drivers license."
Ranger: She here?
Dad: No, she's up north.
Ranger: You teach her to drive?
Dad: Yeah, spent an afternoon when she was here over Christmas
Ranger: Ok, here you go. (Writes out a Texas license)

He mailed her the license. Then on his weekly call home said he wouldn't be back in Jersey for another month, but he had arranged for the Chevy dealer to get her a car. "go see Mr. Palmer at the Chevy dealer on main street, he'll get you fixed up". Fifteen years old she rides her bike down town to the dealer. They point to a group of four cars and tell her to pick a color she likes. She does, and they said they'd get it ready. She rides her bike back home.
A couple of hours later a young man shows up at the door, hands her the keys and papers, and jogs off down the sidewalk towards downtown.

Fifteen years old with a shiny new 1951 Bel Air two door hardtop. Drove it two years on a Texas license until she was legal for one in NJ.

 

in my area, a lot of people think a yellow light means "go like hell"!

 

I have two friends that are identical twins, same age as me( old) , Johnny passed his drivers test the first time, Lonnie didn’t. Lonnie goes back and fails again a couple of weeks later. I think he tried one more time. Then Johnny went down and took the test for him! True story!






Bones

 

Same as many others here, being a car guy, the day I got my license was one of the most memorable days in my life. I got my first car when I was 12 and had rebuilt two by the time I turned 16. I was ready to legally drive them! My birthday is in January and it just happened to snow (in Oklahoma) on my birthday the year I needed to take my driving test! I was not happy to say the least. I had to wait until the next day which seemed like an eternity... Since my car that I was going to drive would have likely been seen as something the guy giving the test might want me to not drive, I borrowed my grandpa's suburban for my test. I figured my car would have given off the impression that I might want to drive fast or something which likely would have been the case. Anyway, I took my test in the Suburban and since it was so big, the guy giving the test didn't even make me parallel park (which I had practiced quite a bit even in the Suburban since I wasn't about to fail the test.) I passed first try and my parents then let me take off from central Oklahoma to Arlington, Texas my first weekend with my license. As a parent of a couple 16 year olds now, I am not sure what they were thinking...

 

I've never owned an automatic.

 

I drove by myself the 25 miles in my 63 T Bird. I parked in the proper lot and got on the list. When I was called we went out to the car and it passed the safety check.. The driving test went perfect I thought. I got zinged max points for improper posture, at times I had my elbow on the door and my hand on the wing window. At leased I passed.

 

I could drive anything on the farm that burned gas since I was 12 yrs. old, (except the 4-row corn planter, cultivator and corn picker - for obvious reasons). I won 2nd place in the tractor driving contest in 4-H and drove my Cushman all over the country at 14.

Even drove my Grandpa's hired man home from too long a stay at the tavern one time. He had a nice '58 Impala, 283 Power Glide - desert rose and white in color.

Anyway, my 16th birthday was at the end of the year, and I got to use my Step-Dad's '61 Buick LeSabre convertible to take my drivers test. It was a beautiful car - red on red with white top. I was only about 95 lbs. soaking wet and I could barely see over the wheel. So when I went down to take the test, we were on Christmas break.

The minion at the license bureau was an idiot. He wouldn't talk to me except "turn here", or "park there", etc... We only went about 5 or 6 blocks from the DMV, and on our way back I had one more right turn to make. There was some bushes at the stop sign that you could not see over or around. So, I pulled up into the cross walk and stopped to see the traffic.

He started yelling at me and said, "You can't do that!" I asked, "How do you expect me to see if there's any traffic coming?" He replied, "You failed! Take me back right now, and we'll see you next week!" I thought, "You SOB." So, I went back the next week and passed with out a hitch, and a different civil servant.

The real kicker was, the day after I got my license, I was going to take my '48 Jeep to school, but there was an ice storm that night and the power lines were down across our driveway. School was called off...

I thought I could get to work if I went down the lane to the gate in the field. I got out on the road and went about a 1/4 mile and the wind blew me right into the ditch. I was stuck, everything was solid ice.

I finally got out and off to work I went. I practically had the road to myself. My gut was so nervous I almost puked, but I made it safe and sound and got in a half a day at work.

Sorry this is so long, but it shows what a guy will do, just to go driving! If that were today, we'd be in "lockdown" for weeks until the snow melted!

We've lived in the best of times!

 

Not me but my uncle's story. My uncle was living with my parents after his mom and dad had passed. He took my dad's 37 V60 Ford up to the license building. The inspector was a old timer and everyone has a story about him. He told my uncle he needed his dad's signature as he was only 16. He said his dad had passed. He said then he needed his mom's and again he said she had passed. He asked who was his guardian and he said my mom and dad.. He told him they would have to come in to sign for him. He lied and told him they had come up to see the doctor as his sister had some kind of contiguous rash and they was at the drug store to get medicine. The inspector told him that he didn't want them in the office and to take the papers over to the store and have them to sign it. My uncle signed my dad's name and signed my mom name with the other hand which looked pretty bad. The inspector looked at my mom's signature and said something about my mom's bad hand writing. My uncle then told the inspector that she had only finished 2nd. grade