I studied driving in California, USA: Why did I change four China coaches at one go?

13 years ago, I worked as a reporter in a magazine in Beijing. One day, because of a car-related thing, I interviewed a person in charge of the automobile industry association at that time. Talking about American cars, he said, for example, that if Chinese Americans buy a bottle of soy sauce and eat it in jiaozi, they will drive for several kilometers. Going to work every day is hundreds of kilometers, even hundreds of kilometers.

When I was a turtle, I was actually a little surprised, but I just tried not to show it.

After I arrived in America five years ago, I didn't know how to drive. I soon learned how terrible it is to live without a car in America. Therefore, after the economic conditions have improved slightly, it is urgent to test the driver's license.

Los Angeles, where I live, belongs to a city with many Chinese. There are many companies and individuals specializing in driving training on the Internet. However, the driving test training institutions run by Americans are relatively expensive, many of which cost more than $0/00 per hour, while the training lecturers in China charge $50 every two hours. But its understanding of traffic regulations may not be so rigorous. But because many new Chinese have poor English, they usually only choose China as their coach, and I am no exception.

I searched several driving schools in China on the Internet, and roughly selected one from the following messages, and asked to abide by the traffic rules, even if the driver's license test was officially started.

The United States is an immigrant country, and places like California are the most diverse places in the world. Therefore, local government agencies generally provide multilingual services, and DMV (Vehicle Management Office) is no exception, providing multilingual traffic information and examination papers including Chinese and Spanish. Because I have never driven a car before, the study of traffic regulations basically starts from 0. Fortunately, I think I have a strong learning ability. After several days of review, I told the coach that I could take the written test.

But because there are too many people taking the driver's license test, the vehicle management office near my home is waiting in line every day. So the coach suggested that we go to the next city to take the DMV exam. In order to earn more agency fees for each examinee, 50 yuan concentrated several people who needed to take the written test in one day, and then drove us there.

California road test data

The first choice for obtaining a driver's license is to submit various identification documents, such as social security number, passport and work permit. California is a refuge state for illegal immigrants, and state laws stipulate that illegal immigrants can also obtain driver's licenses. At least in the Obama era three years ago, the requirements for candidates to submit identification documents were very low. But I have the relevant documents, submitted the relevant identification documents, took photos on the spot, fingerprinted, and then waited for the call. After the phone call, I went to a small room and did a traffic rule test on the computer.

I remember it was 100, which obviously didn't bother me. Answer quickly and end the test with full marks. After waiting for 10 minutes, I got a piece of paper with my driver's license number and identity information printed on it. This is my internship driver's license. With this internship driver's license, I can learn to drive, provided that someone with a California driver's license is sitting in the co-pilot position to guide me. Therefore, the co-driver position of the coach car also has a set of brake and throttle system, which is convenient for the coach to deal with in an emergency.

However, on the way home from the vehicle management office after getting the internship driver's license, I was surprised to find that the coach from the northeast was chatting on WeChat while driving on the highway. I changed all kinds of lanes on the way, far exceeding the speed limit of 65 kilometers on this section.

I have to remind her to be careful. But she was unmoved. Then, when I got home, I called her immediately and I changed coaches. And clearly tell her why, her driving habits make me feel that she is not a qualified coach. Then she was very angry, but I told her that life is a matter of life, which is not negotiable.

The second coach seems to be an East China beauty. At the appointed time, she appeared on time to pick me up. But as soon as I got on the bus, I found her wearing slippers. Teach a novice to drive in slippers? I asked her to change a pair of shoes, and she told me that she didn't bring them. ...

At that time, there was already an international student learning to drive in the car. In other words, a coach in slippers is driving with two people who have hardly touched the car! What I can also tell you is that I drove around 1 hour and saw that I was driving the steering wheel smoothly. She took me directly to the highway to Roland Heights. It is no exaggeration to say that 10,000 moose flew by in my heart.

The international student who finally got on the same bus has finished training, so let her drive me home quickly. After getting off the bus, take a breath and tell her right away that she was fired. Change coaches.

The third coach is a middle-aged man from the northeast. At least in learning to drive, it is obviously much better than the first two. He is clever and patient when driving, except for the ubiquitous sissy and strange eyes. But after studying for a few days, I seem to find that when I was still in control of the car, he always liked to move my steering wheel and always rubbed his hands. I seem to understand that I met a homosexual. Although this is a normal phenomenon in America, I am traditional, and I still feel uncomfortable being touched by a homosexual. After studying for a few days, I have to change people again.

Compared with others, I seem to drive a lot longer. First, it is irresponsible for yourself or others to feel that you are not skilled enough to go on the road. So even though the coaching fee is not low, I always insist on asking a full-time coach to accompany me 10 for more class hours.

The fourth coach is a young man from Guangdong. Compared with the first few people, his preparation seems to be more detailed. For example, he took some cards with illustrations, and every time he made a mistake, he would stop and use the cards to explain why I made a mistake. Strictly speaking, this is rare among coaches in China. However, the understanding of traffic rules seems to be flawed.

One day at a stop, I arrived at almost the same time as the car on the right. According to the traffic rules, if the car on my right arrives at the same time, the car on the right should have priority. Then I stopped to wait, but he criticized my mistake. I told him that according to the traffic regulations, two cars got to the car on the right at the same time. He looks confused. ...

Later, I learned that with the influx of immigrants from China into the United States, opening a private driving school, a small investment business, has become the choice of many China people who lack more livelihood skills. Although many of them have legal licenses, their habits are far from professional coaches. Coupled with the fact that many people are bringing hidden rules into this industry, the problem of driving schools in China has become more and more serious. However, because they have been soliciting business in Chinese areas, the problem has not been fully taken seriously.

After 10 hours of practice, I feel as if I can take the road test. After the appointment, the coach took me to the vehicle management office for a road test within the specified time. But novices are novices, and when they see the examiner sitting in the co-pilot, they start to get nervous.

Subsequently, the examiner gave the instruction to start, just started, and then prepared to turn right, and the opposite car turned left according to the indicator light. In this case, according to the rules, I need to stop and make way for it. But when I panicked, I dug it out directly, and then the examiner directly put an X on the exam question, which made me even more panicked. I know psychologically that I can't make it today.

After several kilometers, the examiner remained calm. Back in the parking lot, the results came out and I failed the exam.

I find that driving requires experience and proficiency.

But if I continue to hire a coach, the cost is too expensive, and I obviously don't have that much money to hire a professional coach car to practice every day. Fortunately, I saved enough money to buy a car after saving money for two years in the United States, so I took a roommate with a business driver's license and went straight to the car sales company.

I decided to buy a used car at first, but I was basically a super rookie when I thought of my understanding of cars. If there is anything wrong with the used car, I basically block myself in the middle of the road. Besides, American cars are cheap. After seeing several cars, I decided to spend more than 20 thousand to buy a new Japanese small off-road vehicle.

Buy a good car and tell the sales company that I only have an internship driver's license and can only drive with people with a driver's license. The people in the sales company had an excellent attitude and immediately sent a young man to sit in the co-pilot and accompany me to drive back to my residence 30 kilometers away.

With a car, the next step is to find someone with a driver's license to sit next to you and practice. First, foreign students' roommates are rewarded with $20 each time. Later, when overseas students didn't have time, they invited a painter friend from Jiangxi to accompany them. It is also clear to settle accounts among American friends, and he is given a symbolic reward every time. After practicing for a month, I invited a professional coach to accompany me to the vehicle management office to test the effect of this month's training. The coach said it was good. I had no problem playing normally.

The second exam went well. There was a sudden braking mistake in the middle, but the number of mistakes was far less than the specified red line. I was relieved when the examiner said, "Congratulations, you passed the exam". From then on, I am also a car owner who can get on the road.

Just as I was taking my driver's license test, a friend from Beijing just got in. He told me that in order to pass the driving test, he had been driving in China for more than 10 years and had to take the test six times. The reason is that the examiner stopped directly in the name of dangerous driving several times during the exam.

In fact, the examiners and driving coaches of DMV in the United States are most afraid of the old drivers from China. Many domestic drivers find it difficult to get a driver's license in America. Their driving habits are usually regarded as dangerous driving. For example, frequent lane changes, such as not giving way to through vehicles when turning right, and repeated big mistakes made by drivers in China, such as not stopping in front of stop signs, or grabbing lanes, changing lanes or not looking back at blind spots when turning. ...

Many states in the United States allow China's driver's license to drive in the United States for a short time. Many tourists from China rent cars on the road when they arrive in the United States, but it turns out that good driving habits can never be developed overnight. More and more data show that it is actually very dangerous to do so when driving habits and regulations are different. For example, the tragedy of Chinese driving in Arizona on July 24, 2006+2065438 was because Chinese drivers didn't stop at the stop sign, which finally killed four people.

As for what happened to China students driving luxury cars in Chinese areas, or the tourist buses driven by drivers in China, which caused serious casualties, there have been several cases in a few years.

Driving is really a high risk factor for beginners. In the three years of owning a car, although I think my driving habits are very American, I haven't got a traffic violation ticket for three years, but I still had four car accidents.

Driving for the first time, obviously unfamiliar. When I was reversing on the side of the road, I ran into a car parked in front of my house. Because I am fully responsible, the price is that my insurance premium has directly increased by about $65,438+0,000 per year.

The second time I came out of the supermarket parking lot, I was chased by a China youth who was driving a luxury car at the age of 17. All his responsibilities. Although I bought all insurance, it takes almost a day to drive to repair it and toss it back and forth.

The third time I was rear-ended by a little black girl on the highway. Although it is also the full responsibility of the other party, it is very minor, so it will go away. The fourth time, I met the perpetrator on the highway and ran into the car behind me. Then the car behind me chased my tail again, and the perpetrator actually escaped. According to the insurance rules, if I can't catch the perpetrator, I have to pay 500 dollars for the repair of the car, although I am not responsible.

In addition, when I first started driving, my habits were not fixed, because I didn't look back at the blind spot and almost caused a car accident. Fortunately, it was saved in the end.

This reminds me of a sentence once said by my predecessors: driving and writing are the most dangerous occupations in the world, so the longer you drive, the less courageous you are. These two are the most basic skills in my life, so I have to be more cautious.

June 2018,21,Los Angeles