Teen driver questions

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought you had to have your permit to take the test. I bet he needs to - how else would he have (legally) practiced? And when he had it, like precious poster mentioned, he will be covered under your insurance.

My daughter got her permit when she was 18 then took the test when she was 22. She was on our insurance for the "permit" period but we were not charged anything until she actually had a real license. Here you have to have a permit before you can take the test; however, they did tell us there was no required "permit time" before she could take the test. They said she could come back the next day for the actual driver's test. Not sure how it works where you are.

It is probably state specific. In colorado you must hold a permit before your license, no matter your age. The difference is that once you are 18, you only have to have the permit for a day before you can take the driving test.

While the person has a permit, they are covered under the parents insurance. Once they get the license, they must be added to the parents insurance or get their own.

I always wonder how someone with no driving experience due to not having practices with a permit passes the driving test.

You can do that in Iowa but lots of states have different laws. Plus the sheer amount of traffic in some areas can make kids that young nervous. When we were in IA, DD waited until she was 15 to get her permit and was driving on her 16th bday. In PA, DS kids can't get their permit until they're 16. DS was almost 17 before he got his, when I finally put my foot down and told him he WAS going to learn how to drive, even if only to school and the store.

I know nothing about the question you asked but I don't feel this is adequate training.  You should call your insurance company. 
 
I feel that there are so many subtle things about driving that are just learned through practice. He should be driving with you in the car explaining things to him.  

The best eat thing you can do for a new driver is to spend time on the road with him. 

If I'm reading this right, he isn't planning to/doesn't have to get a permit? He can just do a behind the wheel license test for his license?

We let our insurance know when our kids got their permits so they had a record of them in the system as drivers, but their names weren't added to our insurance cards. We weren't charged for them until they got their license.SaveSave

A lot of it is due to the cost prohibitive nature of driving. Insurance for a 16 year old, with their own car can be as high as $3500 per year in some states - no point in being licensed if you can't afford to be!  In addition, in areas where traffic is particularly heavy or frightening, kids are afraid.

My DD was like this, too, although it was 15.5 when she could get her permit and 16 her license. Drove from the second she could and took on half the driving on a road trip from San Diego to Seattle while on her permit. 

DS wasn't in any rush and took his permit down to the wire, getting his license a week before it expired (mostly because I paid the first time and he would have to pay to get a new permit).SaveSave

It is defiantly a rural area here. There is the option of taking the bus to school, but I swear there is not one single kid above the age of 14 that rides the bus.

Most kids are in multiple activities year round. Although they have to take the school bus to any events, they all drive to school so the can drive home after practices, and after the events. There would be no bus rides after practice. Zero public transportation here.

My oldest daughter lettered 16 times in high school athletics, 4 academic letters, and 4 fine arts letters.. so you can imaging how many practices and games/events were involved in that. I was happy to not have to wait in the parking lot to pick her up every day. Middle School was bad enough! LOL

For most parents it is a huge sigh of relief when they can drive themselves. They can't go off their route to and from school, and they can not drive in multiple times a day either. Since it is a small town/rural area, the cops know them and know what type of driving permit they have. And they can't drive at all after 10:30 until they are 16.

It would be hair raising the have them driving in an urban traffic situation when they are new though! YIKES. Snow and ice are bad enough.

this is how it is here as well, though we may be a big bigger than you

My dd got her permit at 15 here in Florida. I called my insurance & my rates would go up $150 mo if I let her drive even with a permit. So she has not driven yet. I made a deal with her if she got a job & paid the difference she could drive but she wanted no part of that.

It was horrific when I left 5 years ago. Hubby could get to work in 15 minutes but sometimes took an hour coming home. I hate I-35 and I-85 in the upstate of SC just as much. I know exactly wheat distress mode you were in. We used to let our two that had permits drive to church Sunday mornings because that was the safest and quietest time. We have USAA also, and DD was creamed in Clemson, SC, where her car was totalled. She was turning left on a green arrow, and the guy coming the other direction didn't see his red light and creamed her. USAA was awesome about the whole thing and gave us a lot more for her car than we thought we would get.

This is what my parents did as well, so I waited a bit.  
Save