Got my US Driving License
February 24th, 2006 at 08:28pm
I got my US driving license yesterday. Driving in US is pretty easy, specially after driving for couple of years in India. But here, its a totally different ball game.
- Its a left-hand drive here. i.e, you drive on the right side of the road.
- The laws and the rules of the road are very clearly defined.
- Everyone is expected to obey the rules and laws. And as far as I have seen, almost everyone does
- There is proper enforcement of the law, and If you are on the wrong side of the line, you are penalised, and your wrong doings are recorded against your history!
- Everything is tracked. Your driving history, vehicle history, and you can’t escape from it!
- Almost all roads that I have seen here have proper markings on it. (lane makings, directions, signals, boards etc!, And, everything is standardized. So, you just need to learn the sign once.
- The traffic moves at pretty high speeds compared to India. i.e., the official speed limit itself is pretty high compared to the speed limits in India
But one major difference I found is … In India, you drive with the assumption that the other people on road won’t be following the rules, and you are always ready for the unexpected and you are always alert. But here, people tend to assume that the other folks on the road would follow the rules….., and by chance if they don’t follow the rule, there is a high possibility of a crash!
For e.g., here in US, at an small time cross road, If you don’t see a “Stop” sign, you are not supposed to stop, but go ahead after slowing down. You assume that the people on the cross road would stop since there would definitely be a “Stop” sign on the cross road. But if the driver on the cross road doesn’t see the stop sign, then the chances of accidents are very high! But in India, one would be very cautious at a cross road. And, I am sure my Indian driving experience would definitely help me out here!
I had taken around 6 hrs of driving lessons from an instructor over here, just to get to know the driving rules and laws etc over here. And, there is an Drivers Handbook (every state has one) too which is very useful. You can download it from http://dmv.org/
Anyways, getting the drivers license was pretty easy. First I had to give an exam (Computer based), after that I had to give an small road test, where they would test my driving skills etc. It took around 1.5 hrs in all. So, the next job is to buy a good car. Its very difficult to live in the United States without a car.
Let me know if you know of any good car deals in the Tri-Cities/Kingsport area!
Tags: DL, driving license, US, USA
12 Comments Add your own
1. JD | February 24th, 2006 at 8:44 pm (subscribed to comments)
Yeah, I still remember when I started driving here, I will always break when there is cross road (and I can see a car approching the stop), because I was never sure if that guy will act smart a*s*s and cut me. It took me month or two to get used to it.
Now I am scared about what would happen when I go to India! ;)
2. AJ | February 24th, 2006 at 11:53 pm
Congrats. So you are surely but steadily becoming a firangi. LOL. JK. I am going to get my California drivers licence today. But since I already have a permanent licence from another state, I just need to give the CBT.
3. PK | February 25th, 2006 at 5:13 am
Watch it!!! Don’t hit the brakes when you see a vehicle from the the cross roads. The guy behind you wont be anticipating your actions and you could have a dented bumper. Beleive me, it will be difficult when you drive in India henceforth. I could never figure which side of the road to turn into!!!
Enjoy your driving and be safe.
4. Vin | February 25th, 2006 at 8:39 pm (subscribed to comments)
Congrats dude.
But tell me how much you had to spend on the instructor for 6 hrs?
Here it is about $60/hr or so I heard. Just want to check, before I take driving lessons.
5. Arjun | February 25th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
@Vin : I had to pay around $50 per hr. But in bigger cities, its 60 to 75 $/hr!.
6. Rk | February 26th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
In India, you drive with the assumption that the other people on road won’t be following the rules, and you are always ready for the unexpected and you are always alert. That and due to other reasons, my friends had said , driving is no Challenge in abroad.
7. Vinay | February 27th, 2006 at 4:55 pm (subscribed to comments)
Hey Arjun,
Good to see u settling down well….and gr8 that u got the DL…hopefully u’ll get a car soon coz u wud have realised by now that its such a pain without a car…
50$ / hr for the driving instructor?..well..in LA it was 25$/hr and the chap’s makin quite good money teaching desis and infoscions itself..
8. Arjun | February 28th, 2006 at 9:01 am
@Vinay : The problem here @ kingsport is there is demand, but no supply. So, these guys dictate the rate!
The same is true with many other things from appartments to second hand cars….. :(
BTW, in houston, they charge around $75/hr for driving lessons!
9. Suresh | April 27th, 2007 at 8:04 pm (subscribed to comments)
Hey good to see all that you have got the Driving License here in US…. could you please gudie me how to get driving license here… i am here on Business trip for three months i will be staying here till mid of July… i don’t have my Indian License… I have seen some important links in this site… but some how i see that they are asking SSN which i don’t have it… could you please guide me in this… Thanks for all your help…. suresh
10. http://driving-india.blogspot.com | October 26th, 2007 at 9:30 am
This site http://driving-india.blogspot.com/ has been created with the purpose of providing driver education and training to all Indian road users. It is by far the most comprehensive website providing training in defensive driving. Learning simple road habits can make our roads safe and also free up congestion caused by traffic chaos.
At present 17 driver education videos aimed at changing the driving culture on Indian roads are available. The video are unique in that the footage is real life action from streets of London. We have copied the Western habits: Replaced the dhoti with denim, high rise buildings for Indian cottages, burgers and coke instead of Indian breads and perhaps sugarcane juice. Surely we can copy the Western ways of travelling too.
To watch the videos, interested readers may visit: http://driving-india.blogspot.com/
The videos cover the following topics:
Video 1: Covers the concept of Blind spots
Video 2: Introduces the principle of Mirrors, Signal and Manoeuvre
Video 3: At red lights, stop behind the stop line
Video 4: At red lights there are no free left turns
Video 5: The Zebra belongs to pedestrians
Video 6: Tyres and Tarmac (rather than bumper to bumper)
Video 7: Merging with the Main road
Video 8: Leaving The Main Road
Video 9: Never Cut Corners
Video 10: Show Courtesy on roads
Video 11: 5 Rules that help deal with Roundabouts
Video 12: Speed limits, stopping distances, tailgating & 2 seconds rule
Video 13: Lane discipline and overtaking
Video 14: Low beam or high beam?
Video 15: Parallel (reverse parking) made easy
Video 16: Give the cyclist the respect of a car
Video 17: Dealing with in-car condensation
Many thanks
11. Nagendra | December 2nd, 2007 at 6:06 am (subscribed to comments)
Vinay,
Can you please tell me my indian driving license will be valid or not in louisiana? Also tell me in louisiana how many infoscions are there.
12. Cherian Mathew | February 16th, 2008 at 11:23 am (subscribed to comments)
Thanks,
This information was very useful for me!
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