Getting a license

I have previously mentioned that despite having some 40 years of driving experience on two continents, I have to apply for a learners permit here. Not so simple. Due to the (somewhat understandable) paranoia following 9/11, you need a Social Security Number to do anything, including get a drivers license. Fortunately I now have one. However, I also need proof of identification, such as my name on a utility bill or lease agreement. I do not currently have any of those, but fortunately I do now have my Green Card. However, I still need further proof and will have to take my daughter along, with whom I am currently living, and she will need to have her proof of identity and will need to verify I am living with her.

Not done yet, before I can even get to that stage, I need to have a medical. The application form has ten questions that in England and Australia you complete yourself along with a declaration stating that your answers are true. All basic stuff, do I suffer from epilepsy, do I have any conditions that would cause me to lose consciousness etc. Here however, those questions must be answered by a medical practitioner. So I have to arrange a medical, which will cost me at least US$60, then and only then can I apply for my learner’s permit, which will cost me another US$30. Mind you. I am having to study Pennsylvania Drivers Manual in order to be able to answer the questions on the computer test.

They are a number of differences, for example, in the UK lines in the middle of the road are white (as they are in Australia) whilst yellow lines are restricted to the side of the road. Here, lines on the side or as lane dividers for traffic going in the same direction are white. Lines in the middle of the road are yellow.

Here there are no ‘Give Way’ signs, it is ‘Yield’. ‘No Entry’ is ‘Do Not Enter’, and is often accompanied with a sign stating ‘Wrong Way’.

They also allow cars to turn right on red at traffic lights if it is safe to do so. This tends to apply to virtually all junctions (at least in PA) unless there is a sign saying ‘No Turn Left on Red’. However some junctions have ‘No Left Turn On Red’ signs, but they on apply to certain times of the day, otherwise you can, go through the red light and turn. So when approaching a red traffic light that means stop, you can go through and turn right, unless there is a sign saying you can’t or can’t at certain times of the day, outside those times you can. Glad that is clear….

They also have an amazing lane in the middle of many roads that traffic from either direction can enter, but only if they are going to turn left (the equivalent of a right turn in the UK or Aussie). You can enter this lane just before you are going to turn but cannot travel forwards along it, as you might hit a car from the other direction that is waiting to turn left.

There are also lots of different speed limits and special restrictions around school buses where you have to stop no matter on which side of the road you are traveling, unless the road is divided by a barrier that is. Need to study all these strange and different laws compared to what I am used to…