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Post by fishface on Feb 1, 2024 6:16:39 GMT -5
psw does this help? - it's an ebay listing for the L (learner) plates we're talking about. I don't know when NZ changed how things work. I have memories from 2006 or so of seeing cars full of kids in uniform, with one of them driving them all to school in the mornings because I think at the time, the age for getting a license was still quite low? You could apply for a learners licence at 15 then. In theory, if you took all the options to reduce your time in each step you could reduce it so that soon after your 16th birthday you would have a full licence. I had friends who had a full licence by 16 1/2. Most didn't though. I say that because you always had a friend or two with a licence but it's *really* common not to have a full licence here in Welly until a lot later. It's just our "thing". We couldn't get away with that in the rest of the country.
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Post by romily on Feb 1, 2024 6:37:42 GMT -5
Oh, no car license until you are 18 in Germany.
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Post by wombatrois on Feb 1, 2024 6:43:37 GMT -5
My mum and dad paid for my (minimal) lessons rather than teach me themselves. I'm not sure if I find that pleasing that they gave me such a generous gift, or worrying that they refused to teach me. Perhaps they knew me too well.
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Post by wombatrois on Feb 1, 2024 6:44:27 GMT -5
LC will be able to get his L's in May. Eek. Eek indeed - where did those years go!
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Post by Liiisa on Feb 1, 2024 6:48:54 GMT -5
My mum and dad paid for my (minimal) lessons rather than teach me themselves. I'm not sure if I find that pleasing that they gave me such a generous gift, or worrying that they refused to teach me. Perhaps they knew me too well. My mom is an anxious person and we probably would have murdered each other if she'd tried to teach me how to drive, and my stepdad was busy with his billion children. Luckily my highschool had driver's ed at the time.
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Post by sprite on Feb 1, 2024 9:19:23 GMT -5
Our system had a parallel parking filter as well--if you couldn't do it in 3 tries, you had to re-book the whole test. My dad put posts in our drive, and I had to practice with those. I was really good, but moving to the UK made me realise that it's really hard to switch depth perception to the other side of one's vision. Plus, you can park against traffic here, which does my head in.
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Post by romily on Feb 1, 2024 10:40:51 GMT -5
Yes, you are not allowed to park against traffic in Germany either. Parallel parking used to be an art - wit old cars, no sensors or cameras or any of that! I can still do it, on both sides, but have to admit that I peek onto the parking sensors.
The amount of people to stupid to park in a normal space like in a supermarket - makes me cry. And then take forever to maneuver their car out backwards - even though they are meters away from the car in the next row! And what is it with people who get into the car, you stop and wait for their spot, and it take sthem forever to get going? I have no idea what they do, but when I get in my car, I throw my bag on the passenger seat if I have one, put my seatbelt on and start the engine and go. That doesn't take 5 minutes? (And I'm not talking about families but single drivers).
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Post by psw on Feb 1, 2024 10:50:55 GMT -5
Many people get back to their cars and make phonecalls. If someone doesn't leave immediately I just move on because it could be a long wait.
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Post by sprite on Feb 1, 2024 11:09:50 GMT -5
yeah, if I have a busy day, or felt a bit overwhelmed/annoyed in whatever place I was at, I may well just take 10 minutes to decompress or have a snack, relax, plan my next stop...
my mom and I bonded at Christmas over our shared love of reversing into parking spaces, which is always easier (and safer) than reversing out.
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Post by lisamnz on Feb 1, 2024 16:24:02 GMT -5
AFter a period of time on the restricted licence, you automatically graduate to your full. You can shorten the time by doing a defensive driving course, or an advanced practical driving course where you get to speed around a racetrack and practice emergency stops, etc. I've done both, I did the advanced driving course for work years later. You have to pass a practical test to move to your full licence! You're showing your age 😀😅 Ha, quite right!! I should know this too, given the niece and nephew both recently went through it. Luckily I've got another three years yet.
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Post by lisamnz on Feb 1, 2024 16:25:53 GMT -5
psw does this help? - it's an ebay listing for the L (learner) plates we're talking about. I don't know when NZ changed how things work. I have memories from 2006 or so of seeing cars full of kids in uniform, with one of them driving them all to school in the mornings because I think at the time, the age for getting a license was still quite low? You could apply for a learners licence at 15 then. In theory, if you took all the options to reduce your time in each step you could reduce it so that soon after your 16th birthday you would have a full licence. I had friends who had a full licence by 16 1/2. Most didn't though. I say that because you always had a friend or two with a licence but it's *really* common not to have a full licence here in Welly until a lot later. It's just our "thing". We couldn't get away with that in the rest of the country. Fish knows all this because she's been working on getting her drivers licence for... how long is it, now?! lol. And yes, quite right, it was 15 then.
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Post by lisamnz on Feb 1, 2024 16:29:04 GMT -5
I would say here, it's pretty unusual for a kid to get to drivers licence age without having at least some experience driving. Our kids have been steering the car up the driveway (about 800m) since they were quite small, sitting on our lap. LIttleM has recently graduated to driving it up herself, now that she's tall enough to reach the pedals and also see out the windscreen. And there are multiple potential obstacles up the driveway like animals, fences, ditches, etc.
And there are plenty of quiet places to try driving for the first time, so you're not getting used to everything while also in traffic. My first official driving lesson was around the rugby field at school.
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