driving test

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now in vic there are 2 sets of P plates.. after you do your 120 hrs on L plates and pass the test you go onto red p's (or green forget which)
anyway on the first set of p's they only allow you to take 1 passenger in your own age group with you when you drive. (18-25 years old is the group this applies for)
they think this will prevent the high number of crashes that happen to young drivers.


anyway
my sisters 18th birthday is coming up (NT) and she can apply for her next test. has done her time on l plates.
anyway her driving instructor said not to book a test too early in the morning because the people that handle the testing would be cranky.


a useful point
anyone have problems with their tester?(anyone that has or is going for their licence)

i don't drive and have been taking public transport everywhere (or others have been taking me) public transport in melbourne is ok. the trains are a pain though. when they get cancelled and every body squishes in to the train and all the company does to fix it is put out insulting commercials. eg they put out a stupid ad called fare evasion karma with slogans like spam will fill the inbox of the fare evader. total stupidity.

Being 28 I go straight onto the green Ps under the new system which are basically the old restrictions.

if you were in washington you would have a full license by now. and how is it 18 in victoria. i checked on wikipedia and it said it is 16 for learner license, which must be held for 6 months to get your Ps. in washington the only way to know if someone is on a restricted license is if you are pulled over by a cop and he sees your license, which says "intermediate license" on it instead of "driver license". my full license will come in the mail in the next six months or so

As of July 2008 It is 16 for a learner permit, 18 for a probationary licence and 22 (minimum) for a full licence. If you are aged 16 or 17 you cannot apply for a probationary licence. All under 21s must have their learner permit 12 months and have 120 hours practice before going for their probationary licence. Eighteen-20 year olds have a four year probation period and 21+ a three year probation period (I am 28). Sure if I lived elsewhere I would go straight onto a full licence and that would have been nice but I dont I live in Victoria and have to abide by our rules meaning I will be 31 when I get my full licence in the mean time I can still drive and other drivers will know I am a new driver because of my P plates. Like I have said previously many of the P plate restrictions arent that restricive for me anyway.

Congratulations.

The P Plate license is pretty cool.
I'm pretty sure you're also allowed to drive a manual on P plates as long as you pass the license test in a manual.

Which driving school did you use?

L.

120 hours is alot, no state in the USA makes you do half that much

under 18s have to do 50 hours in washington, 18 and older can just take knowledge and drive tests and automatically get full license. washington has only had the provisional level for 16 and 17 years old since 2001, before that is was 16 for full license.

most states do require practice hours but they heavily vary, ranging from 20 in Iowa, to 60 in Kentucky where it is 16 for learners, 16 years, 6 months for provisional and 17 for full license

and my restrictions dont effect me too much either

What are your restrictions? even though I didn't have to do 120 hours I ended up doing more than that but didn't have to fill out the annoying logbooks the under 21s have to. You are right we have a very strict system here in Victoria but it saves lives and works. I do think 3 years for a 28 year old is a little long on probation though. As well as the driving age being 18 in Vic under 17s cannot own a car.

You have to be 18 to buy a car here, so most kids pay for a car and it is under their parents' name until they are 18 or 19, some parents buy their kids a car, it all varies

currently there are two phases to the intermediate license

for the first six months:

no driving from 1am to 5am unless you live on a farm
no driving any passengers under 20 unless immediate family

i will finish the first phase in 10 days

for the second six months:

still no driving from 1am to 5am
no more than 3 passengers under 20 that are not part of your immediate family

Enjoy more freedom in 10 days time, I am having my first unsupervised drive tomorrow with the P plates up. I am looking forward to it I am going to pick my grandma up. Think yourself lucky you dont live in victoria!!

i certainly will. what kind of car do you drive?

For now I will drive my step-dads Volvo it is classy looking car they keep their look really well. I hope to get a car of my own in the future. What kind of car do you drive?

My mom drives my dad's old jetta. My dad bought a new hybrid camry for himself and I took the 2000 toyota van cuz it is the only other car we have. My friends think its corny to drive a minivan but its better than nothing. and on the 11th i can carry 3 friends, which i will drive them so we can leave school for lunch and then come back cuz you have to be a junior to do so

Thats cool enjoy driving your friends and at least you have a car even if it is big!! When I was 16 there is no way my mum would have allowed me to get my learners permit or drive alone had it been permitted. I am glad now I wasn't ready at 18 I was too young and immature at 28 I am ready. America is more relaxed on these things I think we have very strict uniforms all through school right up to 12th grade with ties and blazers, we are also not allowed to leave the school grounds for lunch at all. Given the driving age some 12th graders drive to school but most kids catch the train, ride a bike or walk. I caught the train. Our long probation period as you said is also way more than the US three or four years depending on your age.

well it is 18 to drive in new york. and the east coast (cities like new york, boston, philadelphia) is far more stritct, they have much stricter probationary phases, but they all still end at 17 or 18. the west is way more relaxed, most likely due to the frontier spirit of its settelers (my ancestors were settled the west, which is why i live in seattle)

and why wouldnt your parents let you get your learner's at 16? my dad was all in to me learning to drive as he didnt want to drive me places. both my parents got their licenses right when they turned 16(no provisional period in those days) and i got my learner's at 15 and 9 months. so i had to wait six months in the learner phase(meaning i could get my license at 16 and 3 months). i failed my test first time, retook it 2 weeks later and passed with flying colors

She wouldn't let me because she said I wouldn't be able to drive and I would "be a danger to myself and others". Right up until I got my learners last year at 27 mum and step-dad constantlly said I wouldn't be able to do it and strongly discouraged me. John said he wouldnt teach me until I got some lessons. He now says he is glad I prooved him wrong but that waiting was a good thing. Driving isn't messasary here I was able to get around and still do most of the time due to not having a car on the train, bus, tram, taxi or walking. Mum herself was 25 when she got her Probationary licence (P plates) but in those days it only went for a year. My siblings were 20, 22 and 23. My step brother Joe is 22 and still has 20 months to go on his Ps. I will finish mine on August 29th 2011 at 31 and a half.

Have the ages for licenses always been the same in Australia, or have they changed over the years?