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Comment by jasonwatkinspdx | Hacker News Reader

It varies by state, but most of them require either a driving exam or a piece of paper from a drivers education class. Texas is something of an exception in it's general lassie faire posture.

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Funny enough, after moving back to Texas from out of the country in which my Texas drivers license expired by 6 months, I was required to take both a written AND a practical driving test. Keep in mind I was nearly 40 years old and had a valid Texas license since I was 16.

I was out of country for 9 years, and when I moved to California from China, they didn’t make me take the driving test since I had a California license before (7 years out date), but I was surprised.

Yes, once you get California Licence, the only time you would drive test again is if you upgrade, can't read charts, health issues, law enforcement reports.

Same thing for anybody moving to US (or California at least). No matter what foreign country license you have, if you are moving to California permanently, (not tourist), you need to get a California Licence & foreign license will not give you any discount in process.

When I moved to Alaska, in my early 40s, with a license in-hand from the state I had just moved from, they made me take a written test before issuing me an AK license. At least they didn't make me take a road test.

Weirdos.

Naw, it's not the exception.

Got my license in California, instructor skipped the freeway part of the drive test which is mandatory.

Moved to Oregon, new licensees require both a written and a drive test but the DMV skipped them both because I already had an out-of-state (California) license.

Driver licenses are literally stupid easy to get here in the US.

I'm in Oregon as well and my understanding is if you have an existing valid license you can skip, but that's different if you've never had one or yours is expired. I had to do a driving test in my mid 20s because I lived car free downtown for a number of years and when my license expired just got an id card as replacement out of laziness.

The handbook did say the driving test could be optional for out-of-state licensees, but it was clear that the written test was mandatory.

The DMV lady who handled my application skipped them both anyway. ┐(￣ー￣)┌

In California Highway driving for cars is required for special drives only i.e. can't read charts, or tickets.

You would be wrong, the handbook (and presumably the law it derives from) states (or at least stated when I took the test) freeway driving is a mandatory part of the driving test.

I asked the instructor why we skipped it, and they said it was because the freeway portion "is too dangerous for the instructors".

I had a good chuckle that day.

Easy to say one is wrong. I would not argue, but the fact is fact. For car, as long as your vision in 20/40 in each eye, & 20/70 in both, at least, no physical disabilities for car controls, no seizure or medical issues, no law enforcement referrals, you don't need to do freeway drive. Any Yes to any of the above things will warrant a Special Driving Performance Evaluation, and that most probably includes freeway 99% of the time (assuming there's a freeway access), plus some other things.

And for the record, no, no part of the driving test is dangerous for the examiner any more than for anybody sitting as a passenger. Routes are carefully designed to cover as much & as little as law requires, conditions allow, and much more.

https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/handbook/driving-test-criteria...

Yeah, Oregon allows you to skip the tests if you have another valid US license.

I got a surprise in CA when I went to the DMV (waited four hours) and then was surprised with a written test. I guess it makes sense.

Texas requires drivers ed and drivers training, like most states, as well as a written exam and a driving test to get a license.

Driving is pretty easy. I was operating heavy farm equipment at 11, and I’m not some sort of mechanical savant.

The maturity to make responsible choices is hard for younger kids. It’s probably smart to set limits to licenses to discourage bad behavior, but be real, some driver testing guy isn’t helping.

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