As a recent transplant to California, I've had to jump through some of the hoops associated with living in the worst state to do business in. Today I attempted to update my driver's license and license plates. After dutifully obtaining a $60 "smog check" on my 30mpg 4-cylinder car, I arrived at the one DMV office in the city of San Diego (the ninth largest city in the U.S.) to complete another state mandated task which apparently escaped Governor Schwarzenegger's giant budget knife.
Most states allow a new resident to simply transfer their out of state driver's license by filling out some paperwork. This makes sense, as roads and cars are pretty much the same from state to state. In California, however, a new resident must take a written test - regardless of how long they have already been driving. In addition to having several dedicated workers employed at the DMV to grade the tests (by hand!), California provides test-takers with a helpful study guide. Here is some of its wisdom:
On the psyche of the visually impaired:
On several situations where you may think you can make a U-Turn, but in fact should not:
On proper roadway ettiquette:
That's all sage advice, but some of the diagrams were befuddling, like this one from the section on defensive driving:
I really have no idea.
Luckilly other illustrations were more straight forward:
Rick Moranis begs to differ.
Finally, everyone can benefit from this helpful driving hint:
Apparently, if you come upon a bicylcist from behind, the correct course of action is not to simply crush him to death with your car, but to actually attempt to manouver around him. Who would have guessed?
Safe driving!
Most states allow a new resident to simply transfer their out of state driver's license by filling out some paperwork. This makes sense, as roads and cars are pretty much the same from state to state. In California, however, a new resident must take a written test - regardless of how long they have already been driving. In addition to having several dedicated workers employed at the DMV to grade the tests (by hand!), California provides test-takers with a helpful study guide. Here is some of its wisdom:
On the psyche of the visually impaired:
On several situations where you may think you can make a U-Turn, but in fact should not:
On proper roadway ettiquette:
That's all sage advice, but some of the diagrams were befuddling, like this one from the section on defensive driving:
I really have no idea.
Luckilly other illustrations were more straight forward:
Rick Moranis begs to differ.
Finally, everyone can benefit from this helpful driving hint:
Apparently, if you come upon a bicylcist from behind, the correct course of action is not to simply crush him to death with your car, but to actually attempt to manouver around him. Who would have guessed?
Safe driving!
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