I passed the written part of my driver's exam!!!

[Shoesy]

Thanks for the clarification, Anne.

[mez]

Well done Phread! Definitely a milestone.

Mez.

[mtngrl]

Congrats!

Ironic timing of this post. On our roadtrip from OR to CA, DD who just got her license about 2 months ago, commented that in CA she thinks all you needed to do to get a license was to send a check in, lol!

Then we arrived in Paris...and we truly did wonder what the process was there. So now I can show her.

We did not see any teens driving there. Is that not common? Or did we just miss it.

Another driving question...most cars had scrapes from other cars. Here in the states if you hit another car you need to contact the owner, etc. How does it work in France? It seemed that if it were a scrape, or something minor, that it was just accepted and was no big deal. Am I really far off base with that?

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

I don't know about that, but one of the oddest/funniest sights we saw in Paris (had forgotten about this!) is the way they park on the crowded boulevards. Have you noticed that no one puts the brake on when parking, and they will nudge a car forward/back very gently to get enough room to squeeze in another? The first time we saw it, we were just cracking up -- but it seems to be totally accepted. This could explain a few scrapes I suppose (although it seemed to be only bumper contact). All I can say is, it's a good thing that car alarms don't seem to be popular there!

[Anne]

mtngrl,

Re teens driving : there are two ways to get your driving licence in France . The first, "traditional", way is to wait until you are at least 18 and then you pass your theoretical exam, then you have about 25 hrs driving lessons with an instructor and then you pass your driving exam (or try to, success rate is not very high) . Alternatively, you can also decide to get your licence with the "conduite accompagnée" system, which has only existed for 5-10 years (don't know really) : you can pass your theoretical exam from the age of 16 onwards, then you get 20-24 hrs driving lessons with an instructor, and when he thinks that you are good enough, you are then allowed to drive as much as and anywhere you want, provided that an adult is seating beside you . I think that you are expected to drive at least 3.000 kms until you are 18 and there are regular meetings with the instructor to check the progress . Then if everything went well you can take the driving exam at 18 : success rate is much higher than with the traditional method, and kids have significantly fewer accidents than those who chose the traditional method ( and so insurance fees are also much lower) . My eldest daughter will be 16 in Sept. and I have enrolled her for this "conduite accompagnée", so I will soon find out how this really works . But bottom line is, no way for a kid to drive a car without an adult beside before the age of 18 .

Re the scrapes on cars, of course you have to contact the owner, report to your insurance, etc ... if you damage a car in France . Some people simply run away, but then the owner can go to the police, and if he can give the police the number of the car which hit his, then the driver is in big trouble with the police .

[arrowcapet]

The easiest way, by far, for a US citizen to get a driver's license in France is to already have a DL from Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida or Kentucky, as they have a reciprocal licensing agreement with France, and if you have a DL from one of those states BEFORE you enter France and you apply at least 90 days before the 1 year deadline (a US license is only valid for a year after you enter the country), then you are simply issued the French permit in exchange for your US license. Voila! Bottom line...if you're moving to France and you don't live in one of those states, find a friend that does, "move" there, get a license, then bounce off to your new life in France.

[mez]

Arrow - now that's definitely 'thinking outside the square' ;D

Mez

[Becky (Berkeleytravelers)]

Wow, Arrow - that is a very valuable piece of information/advice!

Anne - your description of the alternative system sounds like what one of my partners did when her children were old enough to drive. She lives not too far from me (across the bay from San Francisco) but unlike me she drives every day (I would go completely insane if I did that -- I take the metro system!). Her children were attending a school in San Francisco, so she made them drive that commute every day for a long time (they were not permitted -- by her! -- to apply for their unrestricted driver licenses until they drove at least 1000 miles with her or another adult). Her philosphy was that by the time they actually got a license and could drive without supervision, it no longer would be "fun" or "adult" to drive around, as kids often do, and they would also be much more experienced than kids generally are. It made a lot of sense to me, as does the system you described (and the results you mention seem to bear that out as well).

[mtngrl]

becky--We saw that with parking too in Bayeux and just giggled:)

anne--Thanks for the info. Sounds like a good way to go. Here in OR, the teens take a written test at 15, get a permit which allows them to drive with an adult, and then at 16 they take another written test and the driving test. That is all that is required. We did have DD take a drivers education course though, as many people do (it helps lower insurance cost) and it had quite a bit of classroom time, but only 6 hours driving time and 6 hours of riding in a car observing another person doing their driving time with the instructor. (yeah, i know...that was a horrible sentence, lol!). DD got her license when she turned 16, but cannot drive anyone under 18, except for immediate family members, for the first 6 months. Our law just changed, and now the kids cannot drive others for a full year. So it is similar in many ways.