Reminiscing...

[MikeSimon]

I wonder...Does anybody else still have a picture of his/her first driver's license? here is mine . Anno 1968.

[Jordan]

Not drivers license but I still have my first passport.  I was 9.

[Cees Klumper]

A Lebanese colleague told me not too long ago that the level of corruption in Lebanon is such that people sometimes buy a driver's license for a newborn child as a birthday present. If issued with an accurate photo that would make for an interesting first driver's license 'visual'!
I'll have to see if I still have my first (Dutch) driver's license. I was 19 years old, anyway.

[mdsalemi]

A Lebanese colleague told me not too long ago that the level of corruption in Lebanon is such that people sometimes buy a driver's license for a newborn child as a birthday present.

If that isn’t the textbook definition of a Third World country, I don’t know what is.

[MikeSimon]

I'll have to see if I still have my first (Dutch) driver's license. I was 19 years old, anyway.

Cees: Don't know how it was/is in the Netherlands, but when I left Germany in 1988 our driver's licenses still did not expire. I was driving on my original 20-year old license. That's why I still have it. I know, Germany changed to a different format later. More like a "card"-type as in the U.S.

[Cees Klumper]

@Mike - I may still have my original Dutch license but have to check when I am back in France. I moved to Florida in 1982, when I was 22 and because the DMV did not recognize foreign licenses, I had to retake the theory and driving tests (the driving test was literally a joke back then).  So I probably was able to hold onto my Dutch license although I do believe it expired before I moved back to The Netherlands in 1992. But, since the Dutch are good sports, I could surrender my US license and they gave me a new Dutch one. I then swapped that one for a Swiss one when I moved to Geneva in 2010 (had to relinguish the Dutch one) and when I then moved to France in 2016 I swapped the Swiss one for a new French one. That I still have, it's valid for 15 years I believe - all tracing back to the 1982 Florida one. Of course, when I moved to California in 2018, the DMV would not recognize my French license, and I had to retake the theory and driving tests - this time much more serious than back in 1982 in Florida. So now I have two DLs. If I manage to find my old Dutch one from 1979 I will post a picture. Will have much longer hair!

[MikeSimon]

Funny how the U.S. treats us foreigners. I had to take a written and driving test when I came from Germany to Michigan in 1988. Especially considering that getting a DL in Germany is far more difficult and requires the acquisition of significant skills before they issue it. Not knowing how important the DL is in the US as a personal ID, I was amazed how many people always asked me for a DL when I tried to conduct any business. Nobody ever asked me to surrender my original German license. When I moved to Ohio in 1991 I had to take another written test to get the Ohio DL.

[mdsalemi]

Funny how the U.S. treats us foreigners. I had to take a written and driving test when I came from Germany to Michigan in 1988.

Excuse me? How the USA treats foreigners? The fact that you are here says it all. We treat you well. We gave you the opportunity for a better life or else you'd be back in Germany...

We are 50 states all with different rules and regulations. When I moved from Massachusetts to Pennsylvania in 1983, I was required to take a test to get a PA driver's license; they don't just automatically accept the Massachusetts license. When I moved from Michigan to North Carolina in 2020, I was also required to take a test to get a NC license. So don't feel put upon because you had to take a test. In many places we all do.

Though it's changing you will note that in most places in the USA we do not use (not passing judgement one way or another; just stating a fact) the "International Road Signage" in terms of size or symbology. So, when you came from Germany part of the test was to probably ensure that you knew the local signage laws. If you don't speak a word of English, (as many immigrants do not) giant signs that say NO LEFT TURN are meaningless. Europe has as many languages as we have states, and that's why the international signage makes sense.

On a more humorous note, when I took that PA driver's test in 1983, I admittedly did not pass the first time. The 20 questions were front loaded with similar questions, but all with the same multiple choice answers:

The answers were:

a. 10 feet
b. 15 feet
c. 20 feet
d. 25 feet

And the particular test I was given was with "How far away must you park from..." and there were several questions with the suffixes Fire Hydrant, Driveway, Bus Stop, Intersection, construction zone, etc. Of course I had not read the PA Driver's Pamphlet they gave me...for the first test! I was able to take the test again in 30 minutes and then passed.

Please don't ask me about those distances. I just stay away from parking near those things. Today of course, they generally paint curbs yellow where you are not supposed to park. In 1983, not so much, and yellow curbs are meaningless when they are piled with 24" of snow.

[MikeSimon]

Excuse me? How the USA treats foreigners? The fact that you are here says it all. We treat you well. We gave you the opportunity for a better life or else you'd be back in Germany...

 

Sorry! I did not mean to start a political thread. Looks like the presidential elections are getting closer...
But....I know a lot of people (not me!) who believe life in Germany is better than in the U.S.....

My point was made around the fact that in Germany you actually have to acquire skills that you have to prove to get a drivers' license, while in the U.S., you have to commit suicide in order NOT to get one. That's why most of the drivers you encounter on public roads are dangerous.

Oh, and one more thing: I did not come to the U.S. in search of a better life! I was transferred here by a U.S. corporation to do a specific job for which the company was not able to find a qualified candidate here. Which they had to prove for me to get my visa and work permit.

[neelyrc]

I wonder...Does anybody else still have a picture of his/her first driver's license? here is mine . Anno 1968.

Nice piece of memorabilia, Mike! 

I doubt I still have my first license but it could be in Italy with other files.  I do have my military license from 1965 with me in Alabama and it is shown here.  My original license would have been about ten years earlier.  After the military I lived and worked in many countries around the world for over 40 years and like Cees, I also obtained licenses from a number of countries usually by an administrative procedure or swap.  My Singapore license from 1999 happened to be in my files here.  I don’t think I can match the string of swaps listed here by Cees. 

When I moved to France in 1981, not wanting to loose my USA license, I forfeited a Saudi Arabia license from an earlier assignment for a French one.  This old style large, folded paper license had no expiration date and I have kept it with me since while traveling in Europe.  I am sure the validity is now questionable since the new card style licenses have been standardized in Europe for years.

In the USA I have been required to retake part or all of the test for a new license. The rules vary by state and of course change over time.

[yves]

Well...... 50 years ago i was 18 Y old..... and have long hair...

[rwmastel]

The hair is very correct for 1973.  A good look.

[Peter van Es]

I don't have my original licence anymore either. I passed my driving test in the UK in 1979, but had to hand the licence into the Dutch authorities to get my Dutch drivers licence without having to do a test.

I've had licences since in Hong Kong (no test, administrative affair), Indonesia (story follows), Massachussetts (did have to "demonstrate" that I could drive, hardly a test).

In Indonesia expats were not recommended to drive, every expat had one or more drivers. However, when the troubles started in 1998 (riots) sometimes my driver could not make it to our house. So I wanted a drivers licence so that in emergencies I could drive my car myself. I enquired with my local staff, and I was told that on Saturday morning at 07:00 I would be picked up by my driver and one of our "fixers", to go and get a drivers licence. We drove to the Department of Motor Vehicles, a single -- very large -- location responsible for issuing drivers licences for all of Jakarta's residents (around 33M people). When we arrived there, there was already a huge line of people waiting to get in. However, our fixer told me to stay put, we drove around the grounds of the building and stopped at the rear.

The fixer went through a back door -- with my passport, and residency permit -- into the building and emerged a couple of minutes later, beckoning me in. I followed him into the building, a place teeming with people, all lining up for a large number of booths. We just waited at a the back of the lines, and suddenly my name was called out at one of the booths. I bypassed the line, headed to the front at the booth. They took my fingerprints, and signature and my fixer took me to another booth. And a couple of minutes later, my name was called again, they took my photograph. On to the third booth, and the same happened. I get called, receive a complete drivers licence, and my passport, and residency permit. 20 minutes after entering the building we exited it again.

They had not even asked for a copy of my original drivers licence. I have no idea how much my company paid for this service.

[66andBlue]

I wonder...Does anybody else still have a picture of his/her first driver's license? here is mine . Anno 1968.

Mike,
interesting how the photo was attached to the paper or fabric. What format did your license have?
I got mine nine years earlier and it was kind of a floppy waxed cloth with the photo riveted to it, large enough that it would not fit into any wallet.
When I moved to California and got a CA license I could keep it but the authorities made sure that I could not use it legally in the state. I continued to use it during visits in Germany and other European countries.

[MikeSimon]

Alfred: The format was huge. For years (in Germany) I carried a oversized wallet to keep the DL in there. When folded open, it was almost letter size.