MovieChat Forums > Learning to Drive (2015) Discussion > American driving instruction

American driving instruction

posted 8 years ago by flynn-128-778191
8 replies | jump to latest

I am from England where we have a strict driving test and students often require professional tuition to pass. From what I have read on the internet American driving rules are very lax and didn't normally require any formal tuition from an instructor.

But what was portrayed in this film looked so close to our system it was uncanny. What with there being a driving school, the one to one lessons, the advice given, the test, everything was much the same as it is here.

I thought there wasn't even a test involved in getting one's licence in America. Quite surprised by how similar to looked to our system.

[–] phelpsg1 8 years ago

Many Americans learn to drive from their parents (if the parents are brave enough!) or from driving instruction at school. Others have one-on-one professional instruction (this is the way I learned, in about 5 hours, in Los Angeles). A road test is required in all states (I think), and the examiner with her clipboard was a typical no-nonsense figure. The majority of people do pass the test on their first try, however, which is not the case in many countries, I understand.

[–] flynn-128-778191 8 years ago

Yes, 1 to 1 professional is the norm here, which was why I was surprised to see it in an American film where I thought most people are taught by their parents and don't have any professional instruction. I didn't even think there was a driver training industry in America.

[–] joasiafly 8 years ago

I didn't even think there was a driver training industry in America.

There's definitely a ton of driving schools in America - I myself am a proud graduate of the E-Z Method School of Driving in Washington, D.C.

Most people might pass on their first try, but it took me 3 tries.

All of the road tests I took were on simulated courses (not on actual city streets), and on my first test, I pulled out of the parking spot, turned and hit the curb. The instructor got out immediately, and I said, wait, where are you going? He laughed and said, TEST OVER! NEXT!

Second try I couldn't back up in a straight line - NEXT!

Finally on my third try I guess I was just so disgusted with having to do this yet again that I felt more relaxed and lo and behold, I finally made it.

I live in a state where you must renew your license every 5 years - either by mail (which I choose to do), or in person (which is what you need to do if you have not had a new picture in 15 years).

If you fail to renew, no excuses, you must start over - gulp. So I am diligent in renewing, I simply cannot go through that nightmarish experience again.

Some readers may scoff and laugh at my post, ha ha, but although driving comes easy to me, the test did not!

"I hate those guys." --Dean Wormer

[–] flynn-128-778191 8 years ago

Interesting insight, thanks. Failing a driving test is quite common in England, only 1 in 2 people pass it the first time. It is a lot longer than the US test as well, 45 minutes out on the public roads, as opposed to in a simulated environment.

Despite the differences, I am surprised by how similar it is in (some) states of America, from the movie and you describing your experiences. We have the same thing about renewing the photograph on the licence but not the retesting bit, although the idea has been toyed with over the years, especially when an elderly person causes an accident.

Thanks for the insight.

[–] armylizzzard 8 years ago

A lot of Americans also take Drivers Ed in high school, in addition to whatever they learn from their parents. Most kids can get a drivers permit when they're 15, with the sole intention of getting them comfortable behind the wheel. However, you must be with a parent or guardian at all times. I think in Mississippi, kids can get their permits as young as 14, but that may have changed. Drivers Ed is supposed to teach you the rules and regulations (like driving school) but in a longer stretch of time (a semester typically). Some classes are not taught well and a running joke is that the gym teacher is assigned to teach it, so it's pretty lax...but if it's taught well, it's well worth it. My insurance company even gave a small deduction in my premiums for several years, since I'd taken drivers ed.

For many kids from not large cities (NY, Chicago, San Fran...), the goal is to pass his or her test on their 16th birthday so they may drive without supervision. (I was 17 because my parents were strict on some things). First you take a written test, and if you pass, it's on to the real road test in either your car or the Dept. of Transportation's car (depending on where you are; usually it's a personal car)...you parallel park, merge onto a highway, do a 3-point turn (which was my personal kryptonite) and quickly brake, etc. The grader keeps a poker face and you usually don't know if you pass until the end.

My husband is German and had to pay thousands of Euro to learn to drive at a Fahrschule (driving school) and I was told it is pretty strict. When I moved to Germany, since I'd been driving (cough) *awhile,* they allowed me to show my non-expired U.S. license and take a 2-hour class followed by a very complicated (because I'd never seen many of the signs and some of the rules are different) written test, which I passed on my first try (but barely). Thankfully I did not have to take a road test! Soon I got the hang of it and it's really easy to drive in Germany, if you can drive in America. Now driving in Britain...;) (I lived in England as child and it would be hard to get used to driving on the other side of the car and street!)

PS There are laws in some places about allowing elderly people or those with degenerating eyesight, etc., to drive. Some states also only allow you to renew by mail once or twice before you must come in and retake a test and get an updated photo. It really depends on the individual 50 states! ;)

[–] sean_ohlson-1 8 years ago

Driving rules are pretty strict over here. The test is arduous and a lot of people fail. The thing is, you can prepare for the test however you want. Myself, in the 80s my high school did 'Driver's Ed' but it only taught you how to pass the written portion of the exam. That class was an hour a day, 5 days a week for a full semester. I DID pass the written exam after taking that class (which earned me a 'Learner's Permit' in California. After that, I was allowed to drive with a licensed adult in the passenger seat, solely for the purposes of learning how to pass the driving part of the exam.) Other schools actually have driving instructors and cars (I guess my hometown was too poor for that kind of stuff.)

Lot's of people hire driving instructors like the guy in the movie. I had my dad teach me how to drive. Spent a week cruising around the neighborhood before I went to the DMV.

I failed the test as a teenager and didn't try again until I was an adult. I had to re-take the written exam (and crammed for days to re-learn everything.) Almost failed the driving part again (because I could BARELY parallel park correctly.) It doesn't matter how you learn, but you have to pass the full exam to get your license. That's one thing they skipped in the movie, her learning all the crap on the written exam (What does a solid yellow line next to a dotted yellow line mean? What's the difference between a blue road sign and a green road sign etc.)

[–] chicago85 7 years ago

I learned years ago in high school. The local Chevrolet dealer supplied two new cars each year for the school to use. We went over rules in class and watched videos before we got behind the wheel. We then went out for a few weeks with the teacher and three students at a time. We would drive to the next town in city, highway and residential areas taking turns driving and learning to back up and parallel park. At the end, we went to a local office of the Department of Public Safety where we took a written test, eye test and finally a driving test with a patrolman.

In California where I moved many years later, they had civilians doing the testing at the Department of motor vehicles.

It was free but I am told the students now have to pay the high school.

I don't know everything. Neither does anyone else

[–] Prelude (1443) 5 years ago

I'm someone who has taken both the UK driving test and a US driving test, so I can compare the two and tell you the similarities.

Mine US test was almost exactly the same as UK test in every way, and yes I used a driving instructor from a driving school, just like in the UK.

Although some kids are taught by their parents, and some take driver's ed in high school, others can use a driving school instructor and it's exactly the same as the UK system of driving schools and instructors.

The test is also the same as in the UK.

The test contains pretty much all the same elements as a UK test, at least, my state's test did. Parallel parking and other maneuvers, and all the same expected protocol - mirror, signal, maneuver, etc. Mine was on the actual streets just like in the UK.

The only difference was that my US test consisted of maybe 20 or 30 minutes of driving, while the UK test is 40/45 minutes.

There was also a "written test" or theory test, just like in the UK, that you have to pass in order to take the practical /driving part. You did that on a kind of computer screen, same as here. Answering questions about road signs and traffic safety -- oddly enough, it's very similar questions and even similar signs in many cases.

The only difference, then, is the duration of time in the driving part of the test. Another difference is that I'm pretty sure test centres in the UK try to fail as many people as they can, because the roads are already so crowded here. It's not so much that the tests are harder, more that I think they strive to fail you.