The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it.
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon.
Today’s question:
If you’ve never had a moving violation citation, never had a point on your record and never been at fault in a vehicle collision, do you think you should still be required to take a written test at the Department of Motor Vehicles, or do you think a physical driving test is better?
Also, when was the last time you had to take a written test and/or driving test?
Talk about it….
No. Writing or behind the wheel test should be for the new drivers or those who received many points. I was 16 years old when the last time I took both writing and behind the wheel; that was many many years ago.
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Every driver should be required to perform a driving test every 10 years. After age 70, every five years.
Exit 12 A – I’m with you. But I would add the written test to go with them.
Hubby & I have clean driving records.
Been so long I can’t remember the last time for a Written test.
Driving test, only when I was 16 years old.
I’m pretty sure the only time I’ve taken a written or actual driving test was back in ’87 when I first got my license. And I’ve gotten a ton of tickets since then. Got one for speeding about 2 months ago.
Reekorizzo, something to be real proud of.
I just about fall into that category of never having a moving violation, or points on my record. The last time I got a moving violation was 15 or 20 years ago, and I have never been at fault in an accident. It’s not because I’m a goody-goody two shoes, on the contrary, I’ve been a devout hot rodder all my life, working on, and building fast cars. It’s because I’ve been lucky and never got caught.
I don’t think experienced drivers with a good driving record should be required to take the driving test, but I think every driver in the state should be required to pass the written test at least every five years. I have talked to a couple of people that didn’t know it is illegal to use a hand held cell phone while driving. New laws are enacted and put on the books every year, and people need to keep up on them.
@Dawg….I’ve had 3 speeding tickets in my 50 years of “legal age” driving, one in my car, one on my bike and one in my tractor/trailer. The first was in my new Mopar up by Lake Shasta when Hwy 5 was still being built up that way. I looked up in my rearview mirror and saw a Plymouth Fury black and white behind me at 135 mph (on the speedometer), needless to say Mr. CHP wasn’t happy with me. That ticket cost me almost $300, 3 weeks pay at the time. He could have taken me to the Graybar Hotel for anything over 100 mph at that time. He wrote me for a bundle of engine mods that I had done. It taught me a good lesson, since then I look for a “jackrabbit” to follow at a distance and haven’t had a ticket since. I’ve been pulled over but learned the best policy is to be honest and respectful to LE…..Oh to be 17 years old again.
As a DMV Examiner I have first hand experience with this…. if clean record, not at fault collisions, no physical or mental impairment – then no. Written or Drive Test. But, imho – the initial test – and not just for the 16 yr olds getting their license for the first time but also those coming from other countries.- needs to be tougher. Freeway part of the drive test was eliminated because too many failed at that – to me that’s more reason to keep it part of the test. Same for parallel parking – too many people failed so they eliminated that from the drive test. Those folks coming from other states with a clean record should have it waived as well – many do already. For those that have had referrals for negligence, reckless or otherwise poor driving – yes written & drive test . As a generalization – the young drivers are pretty good in that they studied up on the laws and practiced enough because they want a license badly. The seniors have studied and practiced and are trying to keep their license. The middle age type folks are the ones that seem to have taken everything for granted and have bad habits.
The last behind-the-wheel test I had was when I was 16 in 1969.
I can’t remember when the last written test I took was, it’s been a long time.
I haven’t had a moving violation since 1980.
Last time to renew my license was in 2019 and though no points or anything on my record was required the written test (because of age). I took the sample tests online without much problem (they seem to put in a tricky question so almost no one gets a perfect score). The last time I took the test was in 1991 when I moved to California and had to get a California drivers license. Before that when 16 in Washington state. If there isn’t much of a record a physical test would be superfluous.
I haven’t had to take a written or a driving test in a long, long time.
IMO the problem is that even if people know the rules of the road it doesn’t for a second mean that they will obey the laws when they are driving on their own.
For instance while taking an actual driving test they would never be looking at their cell phone, texting, etc. while they are driving with an instructor but the minute they are by themselves I can promise you that the vast majority will have that cell phone out and be paying far more attention to it than they should.
The strange part is that most everybody would say, “Oh that’s not a problem with me, I’m extremely careful while I drive and look at my phone” But it IS a problem.
I think people should have to take a written test while driving.
😄
Last time for me was when I earned my commercial drivers license.
Written test should be required every 5-10 years based on your age. Laws change. Let’s make sure folks know the new laws. It should also be required if you see to get your license reinstated.
Driving test should be required every 5 years or so after a set age. I want to ensure those on the road have the necessary reflexes to respond to current road situations.
Of course, I also believe the written test should ONLY. In English as that is the language our road signs are in. And all driving tests should include freeway, and parallel parking it is way too easy now.
I agree that the written test should be in English only, but not only because our road signs are in English, it’s because English is the official language of California, and taxpayers should not have to pay for the extra material printed in several languages, or the cost of hiring bilingual employees.
In 1986 Prop 63 was passed making English the official language of California. On the federal level, in 1996 the House passed HR 123 restricting the US Government from using any other language in the conduct of official government business.
We all know when it comes to state and federal laws and policies, they will pick and choose which one to enforce.
When we moved to California several years ago, we were shocked that we had to take a written test to get CA license even though we had excellent driving records from our previous state. However, I have to admit that when I read the CA driver’s manual, I was surprised by some of the rules of the road here and many were different from the state we moved from. Overall, I found it helpful. That said, once an individual has a license from the state of CA, one should never have to take another test to keep it. Waste of time and resources and just simply unnecessary (although that never seems to stand in the way of CA government policies, but that’s a topic for another time.)
Something that made NO sense to me, though, was that in our prior state we had jumped through the hoops to get a Real ID license but that didn’t transfer to CA. We had to jump through those hoops again to obtain them.
Yes, everyone should periodically have to pass a written and driving test.
It should be easy for everyone who believes they are a good driver 😀
Last written was 2002 when I changed my license to CA. I’ve had 6 written tests in my life due to moving plus my original test, Only driving test I have taken was 1971 for my original license. I think periodic driving tests are fine. Just don’t have third parties charging $150 or more to administer the test. Low income people would say screw it and drive without a license. Kind of counter productive to require it then