International Driver Permits and Pop Quizzes at the DMV

Though we’re planning on taking public transportation throughout our journey, I’m of the prepare-for-everything camp so we decided to get our International Driving Permit (IDP) in case we needed to rent a car at any point in our journey.  An IDP is as it sounds:

"Although many countries do not recognize U.S. driver’s licenses, most countries accept an International Driving Permit (IDP). IDPs are honored in more than 150 countries outside the U.S… They function as an official translation of a U.S. driver’s license into 10 foreign languages. Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic (1949) authorizes the U.S. Department of State to empower certain organizations to issue IDPs to those who hold valid U.S. driver’s licenses. These permits are not intended to replace valid U.S. state licenses and should only be used as a supplement to a valid license. IDPs are not valid in an individual’s country of residence. An IDP is valid for one year from the effective date provided the state license is still valid throughout that period."

~from the AAA website

So we headed to the Irvine AAA office again.  They politely informed us that while we were awesome for bringing along our driver’s licenses, our wallet, and our last remaining passport photo, we actually needed TWO passport photos each.  I asked to use their copy machine and they smiled at me like I was a slow child.  "No no, you need to have them on photo paper."  Well, great, I didn’t want to pay another $8 to take passport photos (plus I looked a mess that day).  Instead, I had them direct me to the nearest Kinkos.  Using their photo machines and some judicious paper-cutter action, I had two copies of our passport photos for less than $2 total. 

Returning to AAA, we filled out their form, forked over $30 ($15/each), and voila: official International Driver’s Permits for the both of us.  As the lady helping us peered down at our driver’s licenses, she said, "You know, you have to make sure to renew your driver’s license on time or you can’t use the IDP."  I nodded my thanks, knowing my license expired in December.  However, I took a look at Rick’s license and noticed that his would also expire while we were on our trip.  So, as soon as we returned home, I went online to renew our licenses.  The DMV website politely declined our request.  Dang it!

The next day, we braved the hot sun and joined the line outside the DMV.  After ten minutes, Rick gave me an unhappy look and we abandoned our quest.  Rick made an appointment for the DMV once back home and dove back into his studies. 

Yesterday, we arrived promptly at the DMV at our appointed time.  As we waited patiently in the line for those with an appointment, I looked up at the wait-time screen.  "Approximate wait time for those with an appointment: 7 min," the scrolling red letters declared,"Approximate wait time for those without an appointment: 95 min"  Thank goodness for Rick’s foresight!  We filled out the DL44 forms handed to us and waited for our numbers to be called.  Every minute or so, the man at the camera called out in a long-suffering tone, "One.  Two.  Three." and another poor soul shuffled off with their papers clutched in their hand.  I remembered that on the TV show "Reaper", the DMV was supposed to be a literal portal to hell.  

When it was my turn, I smiled my winning smile at the not-impressed man helping me.  "Why are you renewing your license so early?" he asked.  "Well, we’re going to be abroad when my license expires," I responded.  He nodded, "$32 please."  I whipped out my checkbook, messed up my first check, smiled nervously at the man, scribbled out the second check and handed it over.  "Oh," he said, looking up from his perusal of the ceiling, "you’ll have to take a written exam.  Don’t worry.  It’s easy.  You’ll pass."  "What?" I said, then gentled my voice so as not to cause a commotion, "Just out of curiosity, why do I have to take an exam?"  "Just in case you get a ticket or something,” he responded, “ All people who renew early have to take the exam.  If you had waited until you received the notice, all you would’ve done was send us a check."   Well, that’s just great.  I looked over at Rick hovering off to the side.  He grimaced in shared misery. 

After taking a photo (thank goodness for lipstick and compact mirrors), we went to the exam room.  The written exam turned out to be half the written permit test, 18 multiple-choice questions and we could only get 3 wrong.  Egads!  I hadn’t taken the test (or looked at a Drivers Handbook) in over a decade.  Aside from a particularly tricky question about child restraint systems, however, most of the questions followed common sense, and we both passed easily (I answered ALL of them right!), leaving with our interim driver’s licenses.  Another thing to check off our to-do list.