I received some 75 replies to my enquiry about getting a
California Driver's licence when moving from BC. Some were
extremely technical.
Some were funny.
When I had my California Driver's licence back in 1972 or so,
they just gave me the licence when I handed in my Manitoba
Licence. It has obviously changed since then.
I have included several replies but my favourite is the next one.
It includes a lot of food for thought. And, of course, there is
a lot of difference between moving to and working in Mendocino or
Crescent City and moving to LA or San Francisco with a 30 mile
commute.
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1.
Sorry, friend, you'll have to take the whole durn test! I almost
failed
because my examiner kept telling me to do something I'd never
done in my 30+
years of driving and I couldn't figure out what on earth she
meant! She
wanted me to reverse up the street with my right arm along the
top of the
passenger seat to help me turn my head around to look where I was
going.
I've never used my arm to do that when reversing and I was
completely
baffled until she demonstrated!
Even more interesting is the rigmarole they put your poor
Canadian car
through to make it into a "California" car! I'm afraid I don't
remember all
the steps but because my job involves driving and I had to have
CA licence
plates ("license" here) I had to get my very B.C. "Air-Care'd"
car
transformed (with a sticker after much song and dance and
paperwork going
back and forth). You get an order to have it "smog tested" but
this first
time it has to be done by a special smog testing place/person.
Mine turned
out to be the automotive dept. at the local community college
where several
students and a faculty member/mechanic manually hauled around
arcane pieces
of equipment that are all automated in BC's AirCare testing
stations. It
took well over the hour I had for lunch (actually, I only get a
half hour!)
and involved a great deal of standing around and consulting with
each other.
After it was all, finally, over (and I was *starving*!!) it
turned out that
the test was essentially the identical test my car had passed six
months
earlier in B.C. (but which of course didn't count). And forget
about the
handy phone line to find out the wait times at the various
testing
centers--most "smog only" testing places are grungy corner gas
stations, or
tucked away where no-one can find them. Anyway, when my car
passed it got a
special sticker that they have to find every 2 years when they
smog test my
car again and I can never remember where they put it because it's
not in the
"usual" place these stickers go. This year my 13-year-old Mazda
323 failed
its smog test. The good news is the California govt. pays up to
$500 for
repairs--I think I pay the first $100, then they pick up the
balance. Let's
just pray it's fixable!!!
By the way, be prepared for the outrageous cost of housing in CA.
In
rentals, your average $650-$800 Vancouver apartment will run you
$1,100-$1,500 a month before utilities, and there's practically
nothing left
in houses under a half-million. People shoot each other most
days of the
week in So Cal and every freeway has several major accidents
every day.
Rush hour is when the cars don't move and the freeways are
gridlocked. It
lasts from about 5-9:30 a.m. and from 3-9:00 p.m. I used to
leave at 7:00
a.m. to get to a training at Cedars-Sinai for 30 weeks that
started at 9:00.
It's about 30 miles away.
Oh, and if you like to breathe, stay away from Southern
California or you'll
have allergies about 3 years from now (and your kids will have
asthma!!)
For four years I've been wondering why people flock here from all
over--surely it can't be for the dubious pleasure of spotting
movie stars
without make-up buying groceries and being mean to their puppies?
To enjoy
our three seasons, perhaps?:
1. Floods and mudslides
2. Earthquakes
3. Forest fires
N.B. (the second season runs January to December)
Anywhere north of Oxnard that's near the coast has air (and the
euphemistically termed "marine layer" commonly known as FOG from
June
through September!). Elsewhere, you don't want to know what
you're
inhaling!
Oh, and by the way, watch out for "at will" employment. The law
here is you
can fire someone pretty much however and whenever you want.
David can tell
you more about that!
Why did I move here? To go to graduate school. Everyone has to
do
something absolutely irrational and foolhardy once or twice in a
lifetime!
Best of luck!
c
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2.
He will have to take both the written (in a choice of
a zillion languages) plus a driving test.
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/dl/dl_info.htm#2500
b
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3. Well, you go to the DMV, you get their "driver's handbook"
and study it
(and remind yourself of how silly some of the driving rules are).
You
then go do a written test, and if you pass that, you do a driving
test.
Remember the silly rules. It's easy to fall into "real world"
driving
habits that just the tester will just not like.
If you pass the driving test, congratulations, you get a driving
license.
Yup. California does not recognize a BC drivers license as valid
and
treats you as if you had no previous driver's license.
b.
=============================================================
4. to obtain a licence, you have to take both written and
driving test. But you still can use your BC driving
licence here.
good luck.
same status as you.
l
======================================================
5.
As a Canadian who moved to California for a year I can say that
you will
have to take the entire test, written and driving. I drove to my
own
drivers test in my own car. Always make an appointment when you
go to
the DMV, it will save you a lot of time.
Also, if your car is imported from Canada (even if it was built
in the
US) it will need to be inspected. Fortunately, when I had my car
inspected it was cheaper than a smog test (and included the smog
test)
so this is not much of an inconvenience. The worst part was that
I had
to have it inspected in Canada when I moved back. Just for the
irony I
would have had it inspected at the dealership from where I bought
it,
but they charge too much :-).
As for insurance. Some companies will consider ALL your driving
experience while others will consider you a new US driver. I
went with
State Farm as all they needed was my Canadian driving record to
give me
a really good rate.
k
===============================================
6 You have to take both written and driving test for a
California
driver's license no matter what your driving history is in
Canada.
Check this website:
http://www.dmv.org/ca-california/department-motor-vehicles.php.
J
===================================
7. Good day,
If you do not currently hold an American drivers license in any
state
California requires you to do both, a written and practical test.
I have
been working in Ca for 5 years now and had to after 15+ years
driving
experience in Canada, take the practical test.... Felt like I was
back in
high school. However once you hold a drivers license from any
state you no
longer will be required to do the practical.. just the written
when changing
license's from state to state.
Good luck.
S
=========================================
I think our job hunter can take all of this and know what to do,
maybe find a job in Mendocino for instance.
Only one person was not happy with the question and he wrote the
following:
============================================
8. Why doesn't "BC resident getting a California
Driver's licence"(spelled license here in the US) contact the DOL
in California
for the answer to his question? The answer from the "oracle"
would be a lot more
guaranteed than relying on one or your "readers". In any case
it's "no big deal"
even if he does have to take another driver's test.
Yours truly,
H
=============================================
However, all comments are welcome. H was correct. One can
always contact the DOL or DMV but then we wouldn't have something
to talk about.
This also reminds me of the book, "The Peter Principle" In that
book, the author talks about a Corporate board meeting where the
members will vote a $5,000,000 expansion in 5 minutes because
there is a report that says it is the thing to do and then they
will spend hours debating a $900 bicycle stand because "everyone"
has an opinion about what a bicycle stand should be like.
This list has been going for over 10 years now and I have never
had so many replies to an email.
Must be because we all have a driver's licence (license) and most
of us have a good story to tell about a driver's test. I sure
do.
David Ingram's US/Canada Services
US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa
Specialists
US / Canada Real Estate Specialists
4466 Prospect Road
North Vancouver, BC, CANADA, V7N 3L7
Res (604) 980-3578 Cell (604) 657-8451
(604) 980-0321
New email to davidingram at shaw.ca
www.centa.com www.david-ingram.com
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