Thursday, January 8, 2009

on the road again

#1 passed his test today, he's now an official provisional driver in the state of Hawaii.  He'll be able to get a full-fledged license when he's between the ages of 17-19, which will give him full driving rights.  With his provisional, he can drive by himself, with family members, 1 non-family member under the age of 21 and anyone over the age of 21.  He also can't drive between the hours of 11pm-5am without written permission from us or-if he's leaving work-his boss.  I think he can live with that.  I thought it was sweet that the first person he took on a drive with him was WE.  WE was so excited about #1 getting his license he was bouncing around in the car seat like a puppy.  

While we were waiting in line at the DMV, there was this old lady in front of us.  She was incredibly unsteady on her feet and kept looking like she was going to fall over.  She was having problems filling out the license renewal form, then couldn't see the letters in the eye test.  When the tester asked her when she'd last been to an eye doctor, the woman said she had new glasses coming in 2 weeks and she'd just been recovering from some eye disease where she was almost completely blinded.  #1 and I looked at each other and both expressed the very intense desire that this lady NOT be allowed to drive on the road and were relieved when she was told to come back when she got her new glasses.  Our relief was short-lived though, when we saw her get into her car and start it up.  She almost backed into another car on her way out of the parking lot and would have if the guy hadn't laid on his horn.  Sure makes you feel safe out there on the roads, doesn't it?

Shelley, #1 had to take a state written exam in order to get his temporary license, then took a school course in driver's ed then finish his behind the wheel training with his teacher as well as having to log in 50 hours of behind the wheel with us.  I'm sure I'll still be nervous knowing he's driving out there (especially with those blind little old ladies cruising around) but he's a pretty level headed kid and I think he'll do just fine (besides, now we'll have an extra driver with us when we go to Iron Bridge, Canada in June  :D  )

2 comments:

Shelley said...

CONGRATULATIONS #1!!!!!!!

Indiana has the same process. If the driver's ed teacher declares the student "passing", then all they have to do is take a written test.

I am sure WE was excited too. :) Glad people can be happy for other's successes in life.

We would always drive to Grandpa Lord's alone when we got our license.

Mom is looking forward to your time at Iron Bridge.
Wish you could come to Seneca or someplace I will be. Seneca does have a very high concentration of young folk. Glad Iron Bridge fits into your schedule. I have lots of memories of going there.

Anonymous said...

I bet you are more relieved knowing he won't have to drive on our winter roads here in Wisconsin. That's my biggest fear for Drew this year, he will be getting his official license in the next month.So many car accidents around here lately with the snow and ice.......it scares me!