driving in UK

I can proudly say I passed the UK driving test on the first go.  Granted, it was a long time ago and they've made it harder since then .

When I was 16 and taking the test in America I failed 5 times.

do i need to get a provisional license? i'm already in the uk and from what i understood (online) i could drive on my US license for 1 year is that no longer accurate?

If you are in the country on a UK visa, that allows you one year.

The UK is changing the law on driving in the UK, but that won't affect you if you are using UK immigation laws (UK spouse visa) to reside in the UK, that visa is valid and you don't exceded those 12 months.

Two reasons I can think of to pass asap and get a UK driving licence, it should mean that insurance on the car is cheaper; if you commit a minor driving offence then it can often be dealt with at the roadside with the police, instead of the courts.

I took tons of lessons because I didn't know how to drive a manual and the waiting list for lessons on an automatic was very long (and they were more expensive). But I did end up passing on the first try! At the end, the examiner looked at me and was like, "So how long have you been driving?" When I told him over 15 years, he said, "It shows!" My husband is an expert manual driver (and has been renting cars here on his US license for 2 years with no problems, even through work) will just be taking a few lessons to learn the rules of the test.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the British really know how to take all the fun out of driving.

When I was 16 and taking the test in America I failed 5 times.

How......is that possible? You.......glrb..bleerisfffer(sounds of confusion/mystification)......could pass the UK test.....and not pass the US test? My UK wife took the test in Spokane.....and short of her running somebody over was going to pass.

How......is that possible? You.......glrb..bleerisfffer(sounds of confusion/mystification)......could pass the UK test.....and not pass the US test? My UK wife took the test in Spokane.....and short of her running somebody over was going to pass.

I know.  My dad insisted that I take the test in a stick shift when most people used an automatic, and once my sister flipped off the examiner before the test.  The other times I was just nervous. 

Also, for the UK test I had some 25 years to practice.  I still do doughnuts in a parking lot though.

I still think (coming from a small town of course...) that getting your parents (ok....it was always your father).....out into the huge high school parking lot to learn to drive was the best thing ever. Especially when it was slick/icy/snowy and you could do all kinds of crazy manoeuvres without killing anybody and still learn to drive. There doesn't seem to be places like that here in the UK. Rear wheel drive and snow.......omgomgomg........best thing ever.

I never got that experience...

We lived in the middle of nowhere, where there were no cops, when I was 15.5 so I learned to drive on dirt roads and and paved roads with traffic nearing on nil. You did have to watch out for deer, elk, cows, coyotes, kamikaze bunny rabbits and nightjars... Once I got the hang of staying between the lines and maneuvering I started driving in traffic in town. It was 27 miles (45 minute drive) to get there.

What's a night jar?  Sounds terrifying.

I still think (coming from a small town of course...) that getting your parents (ok....it was always your father).....out into the huge high school parking lot to learn to drive was the best thing ever. Especially when it was slick/icy/snowy and you could do all kinds of crazy manoeuvres without killing anybody and still learn to drive. There doesn't seem to be places like that here in the UK. Rear wheel drive and snow.......omgomgomg........best thing ever.

As an ex gym teacher, I would have thought you did the drivers ed.  Every high school I ever went to was set up like that.

As an ex gym teacher, I would have thought you did the drivers ed.  Every high school I ever went to was set up like that.

Oh come on!! (unjustified.....offended fake complaining)......I worked for the US Govt....no such thing as drivers training that I know of. When I was in high school.....back in 1973? they had drivers ed but it was the basketball coach/councillor. Just like teaching....I think being a good driving instructor would take a special skill......some people can do it, some can't and run like hell when they first experience it.

And as another whining note.....I spent a bunch of years teaching science (fave grade was middle school which most teachers hated).......I liked kids who challenged the usual routine. I probably couldn't get by now using the Van de Graaff as I used to .........lot's of painful things you can do with that beauty.......

My husband is an expert manual driver (and has been renting cars here on his US license for 2 years with no problems, even through work) will just be taking a few lessons to learn the rules of the test.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the British really know how to take all the fun out of driving.

More than you realise. Your husband is breaking the law and is risking his and your families stay in the UK, with his driving offence. Once his 12 months was up, starting from when he moved to the UK on his Tier 2 visa, then he is not allowed to drive in the UK on his US licence.


I just explained why, in reply to where you too have said you had been driving in the UK for 2 years on your US licence.
http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=87265.0

Did you both use the same car hire firm?

As an ex gym teacher, I would have thought you did the drivers ed.  Every high school I ever went to was set up like that.

LOL... my high school (small town California in the late 70's) actually had a class called State Requirements.  One semester we learned about drugs and alcohol and aspects of the criminal justice system.  The other semester we did driver training -- books, films, and quizzes.  The actual in-car driving was 3 kids in the car, plus the State Requirements teacher, after school, and I think on weekends.

What's a night jar?  Sounds terrifying.

They really aren't. I realized after I posted it that a lot of people might not know what a nightjar is. haha. They're nocturnal birds that would for some reason lie in the road (our dirt road had a good layer of road base on it) and they'd blend into the rocks. You would only know they were there if you saw a small red flash from their eyes before they'd fly up from the ground and freak you out. haha. Sometimes getting hit by the car in the process.

They are pretty cute though.

ETA: I did not realize that image was enormous. and to correct a spelling error

Oh come on!! (unjustified.....offended fake complaining)......I worked for the US Govt....no such thing as drivers training that I know of. When I was in high school.....back in 1973? they had drivers ed but it was the basketball coach/councillor. Just like teaching....I think being a good driving instructor would take a special skill......some people can do it, some can't and run like hell when they first experience it.

And as another whining note.....I spent a bunch of years teaching science (fave grade was middle school which most teachers hated).......I liked kids who challenged the usual routine. I probably couldn't get by now using the Van de Graaff as I used to .........lot's of painful things you can do with that beauty.......

You sound a lot like some of my favourite science teachers from years past.  I used to love the Van de Graff generator! 

You should be proud of your work, I had some teachers that gave me a life long passion for science. 

Just the other weekend we went to an open day at Royal Holloway and my 9 year old boy insisted on watching 3 lectures in a row about liquid nitrogen and super conductors.  I was chuffed to bits.

What's a night jar?  Sounds terrifying.