Driving

       Hitting the road: How teens at LHS can start learning to drive

                                                                                                          By: Olivia Dusthimer

Residents of New York state are able to apply for and obtain both their learner permit and driver’s license beginning at the age of 16—that of course applies to you, students of LHS, as well. However, while some jump at the opportunity to reach these milestones, others hesitate.

Upon hearing from students surveyed on the topic, multiple noted that the prospect of getting their permit alone was anxiety-inducing. It’s an understandable fear; cars are heavy machinery capable of a lot of damage if not controlled properly. But learning to drive is an extremely helpful skill that will help you greatly long-term, and procrastinating will only keep you from having that skill at your disposal when you find yourself needing it. In the process of getting your learner permit, you will be informed on how to stay safe on the road, so as long as you take care to pay attention during your learning you can evade most potential dangers. To give you guidance and ensure you know what you need to, NYS has made it mandatory for future drivers to take a test in order to get their permit.

Though some claimed to pass their test without having prepared at all, it’s advised that you take a look at the New York State Driver’s Manual. You can have a printed copy of the manual provided to you from the DMV, or view the PDF. Of those surveyed that already have the permit, over half of them stated that they took practice tests (which are provided by and easily accessed here on the DMV website). One participant even explained that in addition to the practice tests, they took notes from what they saw in the manual to give them some extra support and confidence in their knowledge before going to take their actual test.

But what can you expect to see on your permit test? Well, as detailed in the practice test questions, you should anticipate being tested on subjects such as the meanings of traffic signs, how to safely share the road with pedestrians, drug related scenarios, and what to do in specific traffic situations given the circumstances. All questions are multiple choice, and about 20 of them will be on your test, with the requirement that you get a minimum of 14 questions correct.

Now you’re prepared to get your learner permit and are looking to continue on in the process of getting your license, so what comes next?: as you may have anticipated, lots of practice! With the permit, you may only practice driving with a supervising driver that is at least 21 years old, and must follow a handful of restrictions. According to the DMV site, “you must have a minimum of 50 hours of supervised practice driving that includes at least 15 hours of driving after sunset before you take a road test.” If you need somebody to accompany you to achieve these hours, a good option is to take driving lessons at a driving school. It’s also mandatory that you take the 5-hour pre-licensing course, which will touch on multiple topics to further familiarize yourself with driving on the highway, how to develop certain habits as a driver, as well as how to navigate feelings and risk-taking on the road. Additionally, those who are under 18 must wait 6 months from the time they received their permit before scheduling their road test.

With all that in mind, you should have a pretty good idea of how to begin with learning to drive. Though the process may seem long and daunting, you will surely find yourself feeling rewarded and proud of yourself when you finally have a license of your very own!

All information included above—aside from the data collected in a survey taken by a group of students at LHS—was pulled from the NY DMV website. The site is filled with important information, and serves as a thorough guide of which I highly recommend.