He studied for and passed the written portion of the licensing process, receiving his permit in mid-May. This didn't leave a lot of time for us, because Illinois law would change on July 1st, and we really wanted to avoid new hassles for our young driver, and our hectic schedule. So, we crammed as much driving practice as possible in the next month so that he could pass the road test.
In Illinois, a new law went into effect on July 1. Basically, anyone between the ages of 18-21 who has not taken a driver's education course would have to take a driver's safety course before being able to obtain his license. The safety course does not have road time as a component, but somehow the legislators believed that this course (I believe it is one several-hour-long class) will help prevent accidents, especially fatal ones. I suppose there may be a few young folks out there who will get their permit, practice driving, then get their licenses, without learning anything about safe driving. I know the law was a consequence of the death of one little girl, hit by the car of a driver (not yet 21) who had never taken driver's ed (which is/was not a requirements for 18+-year-olds).
Anyway, we didn't want the hassle, so Thomas crammed.
Fernando took Thomas out two times a day, trying to get in an hour each time. He started out right away on the highway, to build confidence and get a good feel of the Suburban. I'm so very thankful Fernando had the gumption and time to teach Thomas this life-long skill! After having done it with two drivers, I didn't think I'd be able to do it a third time.
Way to go, Thomas! You worked really, really hard. We still consider Thomas a driver-in-training, since he hasn't had tons of hands-on experience. We'll cut him loose pretty soon, though, since football season is approaching and schedules get hectic. We're just happy that this milestone was reached and cross so easily!
Back to life,
Christine
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