Other side of the car....Other side of the road

We very quickly learned that, contrary to what the immigration people had told us, we would not be permitted to drive legally holding only an international driver's permit. We had thought this would suffice for twelve months however it was not to be. Many states have different laws, but, if you are to be resident in Wisconsin the state requires that you obtain a state licence within thirty days. For people moving here from many other states within the USA, this means only that they must replace their state licence and plates from their previous state of residence to their new one. However, for immigrants like us it meant taking a driving test! Oh Boy!
Wisconsin is full of railway crossings, strange speed limits, funky junctions, weird parking laws, and lots and lots of traffic cops to keep everyone in check. So we picked up a state driving manual and studied and practiced. This is strange to do when you have been driving for more than twenty years, believe me. The test was comprised of a computer theory test and a practical test. We had to learn a whole new version of the Highway Code which had strange information about what to do if you hit a deer (quite common in these parts!) and parking in winter! In cities this is very important as you don't want to leave your car on the wrong side of a street overnight 'cos if you do ...IT WILL BE OBLITERATED BY A SNOW PLOUGH! You can turn right on a red light at some junctions (but only if it is safe to do so!). You can't park in front of a fire hydrant. You must stop a certain distance behind a school bus if it has the lights flashing. Multi occupant lanes, single occupant lanes. Stop signs, yield signs, bear crossing etc,. We were pretty anxious about it all but in the end it was a breeze...the examiner just wanted to talk about England, where we lived before, and the Queen, of course.
We both passed the test and this actually turned out to be the easy part. The very worst part was picking up our shiny new Wisconsin Driving Permits. A visit to your local DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) needs to be planned like a military operation. Take food, water, reading materials, passports, residency papers, proof of address, (maybe even a tent and sleeping bag!) because, believe me, you can make lifelong friends standing in a queue for THAT LONG!
My suggestion: plan ahead by going to www.dmv.org for a directory of state DMV websites.


I should add that for about two years after we moved here, I still, on occasion, got into the wrong side of the car without thinking. I'd turn around and think "Where's the bloody steering wheel?", then sheepishly climb back out and walk casually around to the driver's side, hoping nobody saw me. The lads I worked with used to die laughing at my stupidity. However, that's not the funniest thing...when we went back to the UK for Christmas, my husband quite happily drove off down the right hand side of the street. He had only lived in America for 16 months and had lived in England for 40 years....how confused was he? Still, it makes for interesting road trips.