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Cinco de Mayo Safety Tips

Cinco de Mayo Safety Tips

Happy Cinco de Mayo! If you’re celebrating this fun and festive holiday (which, by the way, is NOT the Mexican Independence Day), good for you! However, as your trusted driver’s education school, we would be remiss if we did not provide you with some Cinco de Mayo safety tips. I mean, come on – our name demands it. We couldn’t be called Safety 1st if we didn’t put safety first!

The celebration of many holidays involves partaking in spirits (i.e., alcoholic beverages), and when people don’t plan ahead or behave responsibly, they can ruin the fun for everyone. Enjoy the celebration but PLEASE be safe!

Here are our Cinco de Mayo Safety Tips:

1. Obey the Law

You put yourself – and others around you – in jeopardy when you fail to obey the law. You risk major trouble for underage drinking, as well as a DUI – both of which can definitely affect your future plans, not to mention the lives you endanger when you get behind the wheel after drinking.

So if you’re under 21, don’t drink. Stay home and have some good clean fun with family and friends. Enjoy some Mexican food and virgin margaritas, listen to music and play games.

If you’re over 21 and plan to drink for Cinco de Mayo, read on.

2. Plan Ahead

As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. If you know you are going to be out drinking tonight, have a plan of action for getting home: make sure your phone has the numbers programmed for a taxi cab, Lyft, or Uber; or find a trusted friend to be your designated driver.

3. Protect your Friends

Do not, under any circumstances, let your friends drive drunk. Keep your wits about you enough to recognize if someone you’re with is about to make the poor choice to get behind the wheel. Take their keys and do not return them. Call a cab, Lyft, or Uber and make sure your friends get home safely.

You’ll never regret being the responsible one and looking out for your friends, but you might regret not doing so.

4. Report other Drunk Drivers

How to spot a drunk driver:

MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) provided this list of signs to look out for that may indicate someone is driving drunk:

  • Quick acceleration or deceleration
  • Tailgating
  • Weaving or zig-zagging across the road
  • Driving anywhere other than on a road designated for vehicles
  • Almost striking an object, curb, or vehicle
  • Stopping without cause or erratic braking
  • Drifting in and out of traffic lanes
  • Signaling that is inconsistent with driving actions
  • Slow response to traffic signals (e.g. sudden stop or delayed start)
  • Straddling the center lane marker
  • Driving with headlights off at night
  • Swerving
  • Driving slower than 10 mph below the speed limit
  • Turning abruptly or illegally
  • Driving into opposing traffic on the wrong side of the road

(source: MADD.org)

What to do if you see someone you suspect may be driving drunk:

First, stay as far away from the other vehicle as possible.

Second, do not try to pass the vehicle or signal the driver to pull over. Doing so could result in a collision.

Third, take notice of the license plate number along with details of the vehicle including make, model and color. However, make sure you don’t compromise your own safety trying to obtain this information.

Finally, pull over and call 911. Give the exact location of the vehicle, including the name of the road or cross streets and the direction the vehicle is traveling. Give a complete description of the vehicle and the manner in which the vehicle is being driven.

(source: MADD.org)

Please stay safe and happy Cinco de Mayo!

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Step 1. Complete our online driver’s education course

Register for our online driver education course. After you complete the required chapters and tests, we will then send you the DMV Certificate of Completion (DL387) that you can take to the DMV when you are ready to take the written test for your learner’s permit.

Our online driver ed course is available to all California residents. You can take our course at your own pace, in your own home in your own time.

Step 2. Study for the DMV written test

You will need to study for the DMV written permit test by reading through the DMV California Driver Handbook. It will benefit you if you take your time and study the handbook so you are comfortable with the information that will be on the test.

Take your time, you don’t want to have to go back to retake the test.

Step 3. Make an appointment at the DMV to take the written exam

It is important that you call ahead of time and schedule an appointment at the local DMV so you can go in and take the written test.

The lines at the DMV are usually very long so you don’t want to waste your time waiting in line. Make sure that you are well prepared for your appointment.

Most DMV’s are open Mondays through Fridays until 5 pm; Some are also open on Saturdays for a few hours so call ahead of time and see which date and times are best for you.

Step 4. Bring necessary documents to the DMV office

  • Complete the application form DL 44, remember the DMV always requires An original to be submitted. Copies will not be accepted in any form, so make sure you have exactly what you need. You can get this form from your local DMV.
  • Have your parents or guardians sign the application form DL 44.
  • Give your right thumbprint.
  • Have your picture taken.
  • Provide your social security #
  • Verify your birth date and legal residence
  • Submit the proper form(s) for Driver Education and/or Driver Training (see below for details)
  • Pay the $28.00 application fee (This fee entitles you to three exams of any type within the 12-month period and pays for both the instruction permit and the driver license. If all requirements are not met within the 12-month period, the application becomes void and all steps must be completed again.)
  • Pass a vision exam, if you need glasses, wear them.
  • Pass a written test, there are 46 questions on the test.
  • You need a passing score of at least 39 correct answers.
  • You have three chances to pass the test. If you fail, you must wait 7 days before taking it again.

 

Driver Education and Driver Training Form Requirements:

If you are 15  years of age, you will need to bring with you:

  • Form DL 356 or OL 237 (Completion of Driver Education) with form DL 391 (Driver Training Enrollment ) if your school has a contract with a driving school.

OR

  • Form DL 356 or forms OL 237 and OL 238 (Completion of both Driver Education and Driver Training)

OR

  • Submit form DL 391 or OL 239 (Simultaneous Enrollment in Driver Education and Driver Training)

 

If you are over 15 but under 18 years of age, you will need to submit:

  • Form DL 356 or OL 237 (Completion of Driver Education)

OR

  • Form DL 391 or OL 239 (Simultaneous Enrollment in Driver Education and Driver Training)

 

If you are over 17  but under 18 years of age, you may get your permit without the driver education and driver training certificates however, you will not be able to take the driving test until you turn 18.

Once you pass your written test, you will be issued a provisional permit. You can be issued a permit at age 15, but you cannot take the driving test or be issued a driver’s license until you are 16 years of age.

A parent, guardian, spouse, or adult 25 years of age or older, who has a valid California driver’s license, must be with you when you drive. They must sit in a position that allows them to take control of the vehicle, if necessary. It is illegal for you to drive alone at any time.

Before being eligible to take the driving test you must:

  • Be 16 years old
  • Have had your permit for a minimum of six months
  • Have completed driver education
  • Have completed 6 hours of professional driver training
  • Have completed 50 hours of practice with an adult 25 years or older. The adult must have a valid California driver’s license and certify to the 50 hours of practice. At least 10 of the 50 hours must have been done at night.

 

If driver education and driver training were taken in a state other than California, DMV will accept either a Secondary Schools Other Than California Schools form DL 33 completed by the out-of-state school or a letter on the out-of-state school’s stationery signed by a school official stating that the courses are equivalent to California’s requirements. Instructional permits issued by another state are not acceptable

Step 5. Complete behind the wheel training

When you pass the written exam:

  • You are required to take your first 2 hours of behind the wheel training with a professional driving instructor.
  •  You may start behind the wheel training with your parent/guardian or other licensed drivers who are 25 years of age or older.
  •  You must further complete four (4) more hours of driving school instruction.
  • Complete fifty (50) additional hours of behind the wheel training with a parent/guardian or any other adult who is 25 years old or older. The adult must have a valid California driver license and certify that you’ve had the 50 hours of practice. It is required that 10 of the 50 hours of training is done in the evening.

Step 6. Take the driving test at the DMV

To be eligible to take your driving test you must:

  • Be 16 years old
  • Have had your permit for a minimum of six months
  • Have completed a driver education course
  • Have completed 6 hours of professional driver training
  • Have completed 50 hours of practice with an adult who is 25 years or older. The adult must have a valid California driver license and certify to the 50 hours of practice. At least 10 of the 50 hours must have been done at night.
  • You will also need to show registration and proof of insurance for the vehicle you will be taking your drive test in.
  •  If you fail your drive test, you must wait two weeks before you can take the test again. You have three chances to pass.
    • Driving (behind-the-wheel) retest fee is $6.00.
    • Motorcycle driving (behind-the-wheel) retest fee $6.00.

 

After you pass your drive test you will be issued an interim license valid for 60 days until you receive your new photo license in the mail. Double-check your address before you leave DMV and tell the DMV representative if you have moved or if your address is incorrect.

If you have not received your license after 60 days, call (916) 657-7790 and they can check on the status for you. Have your interim license with you to provide information when requested.

Step 7. Receive provisional license upon passing the driving test

After you pass the Driving Test, you will be issued a provisional license. Your license will have the following restrictions for the next year: During the first 12 months, you are licensed to drive you must be accompanied by a driver 25 years of age or older if you drive between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. or if you have passengers under the age of 20 in the car at any time.

Persons under 18 may not be employed to drive a motor vehicle. When you become 18, the provisional part of your license ends. You may continue to drive as an adult using your photo license, which will expire on your 5th birthday after the date you applied.