Almost 1 year Kristina’s Wildtrak

[Brett Fields]

I honestly think that we should have more levels of license (and in general take driving training more seriously) in the US than we do.

Watching the average person drive pretty much anywhere is great evidence for this.

Yes Yes Yes!
I became a driver in 1980, I learned to drive an ambulance in 1999, I took FDNY EMS Emergency Veh Operator in 2003, and a couple of formal offroad classes after I got my Ranger in 2021.

I learned a great deal at each stage. No doubt.

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[Motorpsychology]

Good to go, Kristina! Now take a boater safety course too!
In the US, a person can drive a full size pickup pulling a gooseneck trailer, and a ball hitch trailer behind that legally with just a regular class D (private passenger vehicle) license, but to drive commercially, you need a doubles-triples endorsement on your Commercial Driver's License (CDL).

This is illegal in most US states, I believe; two ball hitch trailers:

If the first trailer is a gooseneck, it is considered part of the towing vehicle, therefore the trailer behind it is the only trailer for legal purposes:

So Joe Lunchbox can drive to work Monday through Friday in his Prius then hit the road in his 75ft/23m rig with no trailer brakes on the rear unit on the weekend.
Try that with no endorsement on your CDL and it could mean a $750 or more fine and enough points to suspend all driving privileges nationally, for all classes of license you carry for 30+ days.

 

[OrangeStreak]

Glad you're enjoying your Ranger. It's nice to see others like yourself contributing here and your Wildtrak and how they perform around the world.


?There's a couple members here who could benefit from going back to drivers school. Actually parking school but taking the whole course would probably be best for them.???

 

[Kristina]

Oh, insurance is mandatory. Now, checking/enforcement is probably not what you're used to. most places don't do insurance checks (a few do) before there's a problem, to verify that you have it. rather, they check for insurance AFTER a problem has occurred, and then penalties are additive for being uninsured.
Yeah, I don't think a system exactly like you have is the sort of thing I think I'd like to see in the US. But, more care to training/education (less so the specific licenses for different categories, but I do think there should be something on the licensure side to account for very large noncommercial vehicles, especially the arrangements pictured by Grumpaw above) would be good, I think.

When I got my driver's license, I took a driver's education course and had a learner's permit for awhile. Because I took that course, I got a waiver so I didn't need to take the practical driving test with a state assessor to get my license. But I still did have to take the written exam. I think the logic was that the state wanted to incentivize taking driver's education courses like what I took (I took mine through my school during the summer), where in order to pass the course, I had to pass a practical driving test with the instructor present. I think the laws have changed since, and it's not done that way anymore. Since then, I have only had to take any kind of training/test to renew my license once. And that was because that one year, I renewed my license a month early because of scheduling conflicts and I wouldn't be in the state at the time I otherwise needed to renew. They made me take a written test that year in order to renew.

Insurances are here two types.
First one is must be for every vehicle and it compensates damages if you’re the one who caused the accident. Of course no competition for your vehicle. For that you pay yourself or have another insurance.
The other insurance type is for yourself. Mandatory only if the vehicle is on lease and leasing company demands it. If you have money to buy a new car without a leasing, would be really stupid leave it without voluntary insurance.

Even though US has absolutely different system about driving licenses it still works pretty well. I still think about packing my Ranger and moving

 

[Kristina]

Saw black wildtrack with Estonian plates few days ago and immediately thought "That's Kristina's Wildtrack", then I figured that Kristina is probably not a male with an 5mm haircut.

You never know nowadays ?

 

[Kristina]

Good to go, Kristina! Now take a boater safety course too!
In the US, a person can drive a full size pickup pulling a gooseneck trailer, and a ball hitch trailer behind that legally with just a regular class D (private passenger vehicle) license, but to drive commercially, you need a doubles-triples endorsement on your Commercial Driver's License (CDL).

This is illegal in most US states, I believe; two ball hitch trailers:

If the first trailer is a gooseneck, it is considered part of the towing vehicle, therefore the trailer behind it is the only trailer for legal purposes:

So Joe Lunchbox can drive to work Monday through Friday in his Prius then hit the road in his 75ft/23m rig with no trailer brakes on the rear unit on the weekend.
Try that with no endorsement on your CDL and it could mean a $750 or more fine and enough points to suspend all driving privileges nationally, for all classes of license you carry for 30+ days.

Very interesting reading for me from all of you.

I’ve noticed gooseneck trailers only few times here.

 

[LaBalbe]

Happy Rangerversary @Kristina !

I also first got licensed in Europe (moped @ 16, car @ 18), and then later in North America. Definitely a tougher prospect in Europe. Before they even let you out onto the open road for your road test, you have to run an obstacle course made up of brick/concrete walls and metal structures, where you have to "thread the needle" both forwards & in reverse, at a minimum speed (and then stop after having crossed a line at said speed but before you hit the wall in front of you), do three-point turns, parallel park, and a whole bunch of other stuff with a margin of error that was measured in millimeters; examination centres provided the cars, so they could build the "gauntlet" to spec. For mopeds & motorcycles, you also had to cover a certain distance on a raised beam, do figure-eights within a prescribed area (smaller for smaller bikes), etc. Granted, this was all a while back, so I'm not sure what the current standards are.

By comparison, when my sister got her NC license (after having gotten one a few months before in Europe), she only had to drive a mile or so down the road, make a U-turn in a giant gravel lot, and head back. She was borderline disgusted by the ease of it all. According to a friend of mine who lives there and has two kids who went through it all a few years ago, parallel parking isn't even on the curriculum anymore.

 

[Kristina]

Happy Rangerversary @Kristina !

I also first got licensed in Europe (moped @ 16, car @ 18), and then later in North America. Definitely a tougher prospect in Europe. Before they even let you out onto the open road for your road test, you have to run an obstacle course made up of brick/concrete walls and metal structures, where you have to "thread the needle" both forwards & in reverse, at a minimum speed (and then stop after having crossed a line at said speed but before you hit the wall in front of you), do three-point turns, parallel park, and a whole bunch of other stuff with a margin of error that was measured in millimeters; examination centres provided the cars, so they could build the "gauntlet" to spec. For mopeds & motorcycles, you also had to cover a certain distance on a raised beam, do figure-eights within a prescribed area (smaller for smaller bikes), etc. Granted, this was all a while back, so I'm not sure what the current standards are.

By comparison, when my sister got her NC license (after having gotten one a few months before in Europe), she only had to drive a mile or so down the road, make a U-turn in a giant gravel lot, and head back. She was borderline disgusted by the ease of it all. According to a friend of mine who lives there and has two kids who went through it all a few years ago, parallel parking isn't even on the curriculum anymore.

Thank you!

It is still quite the same as you described ? Motorcycles still do their number eights and are tested for ability of slow driving. Real torture sometimes as the examiner may walk as slow as turtle. Car drivers are taken in traffic into a tricky spots and full parking school elements are included, of course.
I don’t know if this is still actual but I had to go up hill, stop on halfway and without falling backwards continue driving over that small hill. Loved that!
Now there is final step course for car drivers. After getting license it’s valid 2 years and within that time you need to take ice drive, eco drive and I think there is a crash simulator, some safety topics.

 

[Tracy Bowman]

Insurances are here two types.
First one is must be for every vehicle and it compensates damages if you’re the one who caused the accident. Of course no competition for your vehicle. For that you pay yourself or have another insurance.
The other insurance type is for yourself. Mandatory only if the vehicle is on lease and leasing company demands it. If you have money to buy a new car without a leasing, would be really stupid leave it without voluntary insurance.

Even though US has absolutely different system about driving licenses it still works pretty well. I still think about packing my Ranger and moving

Alabama is pretty nice, Kristina! Come on over!?

 

[AzScorpion]

Alabama is pretty nice, Kristina! Come on over!?

Yes Kristina that'd be the best place. Obviously there's no Drivers ED needed in AL. ?

 

[Tracy Bowman]

Yes Kristina that'd be the best place. Obviously there's no Drivers ED needed in AL. ?

Well…I was thinking she @Kristina could start a school here. She might not like all the insects here though.?

 

[IdahoRanger]

Well…I was thinking she @Kristina could start a school here. She might not like all the insects here though.?

She is used to snow so Idaho may be a better fit. @Kristina do you carry? If so Idaho is an even better fit.

 

[Tracy Bowman]

She is used to snow so Idaho may be a better fit. @Kristina do you carry? If so Idaho is an even better fit.

You know…we have guns here too! No snow though…?

 

[OrangeStreak]

Alabama is pretty nice, Kristina! Come on over!?

 

[Kristina]

Well…I was thinking she @Kristina could start a school here. She might not like all the insects here though.?

Pros.
I could open my school. I could grow a lot of crops there. Even those I don’t eat but just for fun because they grow much better in warm climate.
Cons.
Cute baby gators may have not friendly moms and dads.

Alabama sounds good

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