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When grandson Lamppost Head turned 15, he got his driving permit. I mean, the minute he turned 15, on his birthday, he took the test, passed, and was on the road.
This urgency struck me as strange because he is not by nature an impatient person. He is deliberate in almost everything, including eating. Sometimes his brother The 747 has cleaned his plate (twice) before Lamppost Head has his food cut up and arranged to his satisfaction. When he gets in trouble with his parents, it's usually from dragging his feet when told to do something.
"Slow obedience is no obedience!" his mother Shark has barked at him in frustration so many times the phrase has to be seared into his brain.
Yet to get that permit Lamppost Head talked his mother into getting him to the door of the West Virginia DMV office in Weirton the moment it opened on his birthday. He had thoroughly studied the driving manual, he said, and so sat down confidently to take the monitored test on computer, understanding that missing more than six questions meant failure and seven days before he could take the test again.
When he quickly missed the first three questions he began to sweat, but he concentrated and squeaked by with five errors.
Lamppost Head drove from Weirton to our house to share the good news, then drove home, then steered toward Robinson Township for a celebratory lunch with dad Snickers. Shark took over to navigate the crazy mall traffic. No sense tempting fate.
After lunch Lamppost Head drove to Chester to pick up a "Caution – Student Driver" magnetic sign from friends. At every stop Shark would ask "What do you want to do now?" and he would answer. "Keep driving." He drove to see his cousins in East Liverpool, went to a vacant parking lot to practice backing and parallel parking. The boy would have liked to keep driving all day.
His assessment of his first day of driving was that he had done well, but his mother said he still wasn't slowing down enough going into turns. He admitted surprise at how soon he needed to start braking to come to a stop, and said his right leg was tired because he kept his foot tense and hovering in readiness. His most scary moment was making the sharp left turn from Route 8 onto Gas Valley Road, which is somewhat of a blind curve.
West Virginia's Graduated Driver's Licensing Program makes so much more sense than how it was done in my day. A parent must give signed permission to test for the Level 1 permit at age 15. The youth may drive only between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m., must have a licensed driver 21 or older sitting in the front passenger seat, and may have no more than two other non-family members in the vehicle. There is zero tolerance for alcohol or cellphone use, and for failure to have all occupants using seat belts.
After turning 16, if the driver has no infractions, has been in the Level 1 program for at least six months, and logged a documented 50 hours of supervised driving time, with at least 10 hours at night, he or she may take a road skills test for a Level 2 permit. This has some of the same requirements and restrictions, including limits on passengers. We all know of tragedies resulting with multiple teenagers in a car.
I asked Lamppost Head why he was in a rush to start driving.
"I wanted freedom" was the essence of his response. He saw his older cousins driving and wanted the same thing.
My wife calls this grandson an "old soul" because he likes all eras of music, demonstrates responsibility, has mature values and attitude, and is at ease with adults, including old people like us.
My own little part in teaching Driver's Ed has been putting the grandsons behind the wheel of trucks and tractors around the farm they were ready, or probably ready. That is far from driving in highway traffic, but handling multi-ton vehicles in a farm field is a good first step.
Lamppost Head has taken the next step and will do just fine.