{"id":60065,"date":"2018-10-13T23:50:42","date_gmt":"2018-10-14T06:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/?p=60065"},"modified":"2023-12-20T16:52:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T00:52:43","slug":"teen-driver-knowledge-test-dmv-driver-permit-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cookiesandclogs.com\/teen-driver-knowledge-test-dmv-driver-permit-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen Drivers \u2014 Helpful Tips for Getting Your Driver Permit at the DMV"},"content":{"rendered":"
For the past two years, people have been asking Munchkin if she had her driver license or when she was going to get it. When I was young (I feel so old saying that), it was \u201cthe norm\u201d to get your driver license the moment you turned 16 years old. But, these days, many teenagers really aren\u2019t that excited to drive. They\u2019re perfectly fine with their parents or friends driving them, taking public transportation, or using rideshare services when needed. Or, they don\u2019t want the responsibility of taking care of a car or costs associated with it (i.e. car insurance, maintenance, and gas). My daughter decided to hold off on applying for a driver permit for a variety of reasons. That was until today when she went in to take her written test (now called a knowledge test).<\/p>\n
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As soon as she finished an online driver\u2019s ed course for California<\/a> (which isn\u2019t required if you\u2019re 17\u00bd but we thought it was good for her to do), she was ready to take her driver permit knowledge test. We all know the horror stories of waiting for hours on end at the DMV. So, to lessen our wait time as much as possible, my daughter went online to book an appointment.<\/p>\n She looked for availability at several local DMV locations. Even then, the soonest she could get an appointment was in three months. We had no idea the offices would be booked out so far in advance! If we knew that beforehand, we would have made an appointment way before she started studying for the test.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I was talking to one of my friends about this and she had a fantastic tip. She recently had to make an appointment at the DMV for a driving test but couldn\u2019t get one before her permit expired. A DMV employee then told her to check for appointments between 8:30 – 10:30 am, Monday through Friday. That is when new time slots become available online. We tried this and it worked!<\/p>\n At first, we found an appointment one month earlier. A couple of weeks later, I checked again while Munchkin was at school. I was able to find a slot yet another month earlier. On a Saturday at that! There were even appointments as soon as the next day but those conflicted with her school schedule.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was a good thing we made an appointment. When we arrived at the DMV, the non-appointment line stretched out the door and around the corner. The appointment line, however, only had one person waiting in it and we were helped pretty quickly. Sadly, we were missing one key document.<\/p>\n Since we didn\u2019t live that far away, the DMV employee said she’d honor our appointment if we went home to get the paper and came back. When we returned, there was no line and we were helped right away. We were then given a number and had to wait our turn. My daughter’s number came up 15 minutes later.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n So you don\u2019t have to experience this, make sure your teen brings their birth certificate and some proof of residency. If you\u2019re not sure which document to use, it\u2019s better to bring several options to be safe. We used the confirmation letter she got for her Known Traveler Number. If your teen doesn\u2019t have a bill, pay stub, insurance paper, or an official document with their name on it, you can use one of yours. The birth certificate will prove of your relationship as the parent. Bring their social security card to apply for a REAL ID driver license (needed to travel by plane starting in 2020 if they don\u2019t have a passport). Don’t forget the driver education completion certificate if the teen is under 17\u00bd<\/a>.<\/p>\nApplying for a Driver Permit & Required Paperwork<\/h3>\n