Getting the Learner’s Permit
You can never get enough training on traffic safety. Driver’s Ed is the course required for students and teaches making good decisions and the reasoning behind these choices.
Fifteen comes sooner than you may realize. It is the time for you to assume responsibility of your own transportation. Obviously, don’t count on becoming an expert driver in just a few days – it takes years to gain all the experience behind a safe driver. But for that very same reason, you want to have a good start toward building good habits, which play a substantial portion in letting you cruise smoothly through life.
Government policy, mainly that of the DMV, that requires students younger than 18 to take driver’s ed prior to applying for a learner’s permit, is a significant part of public safety policy. It constitutes to the overall society’s safety based on its teachings that the privilege to drive comes with obligations and responsibilities.
Traditionally, students have been offered Driver’s Ed either as a regular high school course or as a program offered by private driving schools. With the latest improvements in Internet technology, Driver’s Ed is now available online, allowing students to proceed through the course at one’s own convenience. Students are required to attend at least 25 hours of class before attempting to take the DMV written test. If you take the course online, such scheduling is under your control. There is no pressure of deadlines or material quizzes. In either case, the goal of Driver’s Ed is to let students learn that operating a vehicle is a privilege that comes with responsibility.
Before you head down to the DMV in order to take the written examination for the learner’s permit, you might want to try out practice exams offered by the many online Driver’s Ed websites. It’s a good way to improve confidence before taking the real exam.
After a student passes the exam, the DMV will grant a permit. You must practice at least six months of behind the wheel training before you are permitted to return to the DMV to request a road test. 6 months may sound like a long time but you’ll need every second to gain the experience in real life, rather than from the book. Be sure to master the skills of handling vehicles under various conditions, including during the evening and weather variations. Make sure you have a certified trainer take you out for the first hour of driving. You can then have any adult guide your training for the rest of your practice.
After the training and DMV road test, you will be granted a provisional license (even though the license looks the same as everyone else’s). You are restricted from driving between the hours of 11PM and 5AM and you may not take passengers under the age of 20 unless accompanied by another licensed person over the age of 25. If you break any laws you will be given a traffic violation. Although you may be offered the opportunity to attend Traffic School to clear the violation from your record, that option can only be offered once for every 18-month time period. Even so, focus on building the best habits that you have learned from training and keep a clean record on your driver license.