101 First St. N.,, Room 102, 50208
(641) 792-7731
712 Union Street, Room 200, (Pella Community Center), 50219
(641) 628-1695
302 E. Main St., 50171
(641) 623-3101
106 S. First St., 52577
(641) 673-9521
301 N. Buxton,, Ste. 102, 50125
(515) 961-1144
2339 Euclid Ave., 66111
(515) 244-1052
104 West State, 52342
(641) 484-3141
| Emergency licenses for minors | Minimum age for learner permit | Minimum age for restricted permit |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 14 years old | 16 years old |
The permit must be held for 6 months, and the learner must be 16 years old. It is mandatory to count with 20 hours of practice. The restricted license has a restriction that doesn't allow you to drive between 12:30AM and 4 AM, unless the minor is accompanied by a parent, legal tutor, direct relative over 21 years old or an adult over 25 years old with a valid driver's license. The driver is allowed to drive between this night hours as an exception, always if the trip is to go to or from work/school.
The passengers are limited to the number of seat belts available. If the driver is not responsible for any traffic infraction or accident for 12 months in a row, he or she can obtain a Complete Special license when turning 17 years old. On the contrary, if any infraction is found or an accident occurs, he or she can obtain the full Driver`s license when turning 18 years old. In Iowa, a license can vary between 2-5 years top, and then it has a validity of 2 years maximum for those drivers who are 70 years old or older.
In Iowa, to be able to obtain the Special license for a minor, called Minor School License (MSL), the interested person must be at least 14 years old + 6 months, and must have completed the training driving course in Iowa, unless there are some difficulties that make an exemption for that driver. Adding to this, the driver must count with a valid instruction license for the previous 6 months, and the driving history must be free of any transit infraction, accident or incidents on the last 6 months before submitting the application.
The necessary form for this procedure is called "Affidavit for School license" (430021) and must be filled up by the driving school and signed by parents or legal guardian of the minor.
| Minimum age for non restricted permit | Validity of the permit |
|---|---|
| 17 years old | 2 years (16-18); 5 years (18-70); 2 years (70 or more) 8 years effective. |
In the States, the driver`s license is issued by every State or territory. A driver normally must obtain a driver's license from its State of residence, and this permit is valid for all the rest of the United States. A certain territory could also suspend the driving privileges around its limits to a driver who had violated the traffic rules. A lot of States shared a common system of classes with certain exceptions. In the case of commercial licenses, for example, those are standardized by federal regulations.
As the number of motorized Vehicles reached tens of thousands, the state and local governments asume a new power, autoririzing vehicles and drivers. In 1901, New York was the first State who began to authorize and register new vehicles, and around 1918, all the States began to use the license plates. The license for the drivers was a slow process, as only 39 States began to require this for the drivers around 1935, and only a few of them required an exam to have the license although the concern of having bad drivers was evident.
This is the most common license in America. There are some differences between some States on the class of license they use to distinguish a regular driver’s license and a special one, like the restricted one, the Chauffeur or motorcycle license. I.e.In Tennessee a Standard driver's license is called Class D, the Class M is for Motorcycles and the Class H is a hardship license.
These licenses are oriented to those drivers between 14 and 15 years old (sometimes up to 18), who have the need to drive for family difficulties, like family financial problems or medical problems; the driver needs to go to work or School and there is no other transport available.
Its funcion is the same as a driver's license, but these are issued for drivers under 18 years of age, between 14 and 17 years old. Almost every State, except South Dakota, counts with some kind of graduated license, but the restriction time and the period that a new driver must held the license vary widely depending on the State.
Its function is the same as a regular license, with the add that this license also allows the titular to drive a taxi, limousine or other rented vehicle. In the States, this kind of license is complicated to get, the chauffeur license are not considered a commercial or professional license and, (assuming that the driver already possess a regular license), generally it does not require a driving exam to turn it to a Chauffeur license; However, some States require a written exam about specific driving rules for a taxi or a background check, and also require that the driver is at least 18 years of age (bear in mind that some taxi companies only hire people from 25 years old or older for Insurance reasons).
Only for Motorcycles, frequently combined with the regular drivers license. In some States this one does not include some types of motorcycles, scooters or motorized bikes, and the driver must find what classification is the correct one for his or her vehicle in that particular State. A common criteria, but no universal, is to check if the motorcycle has a 250cc or less, the wheel size, kind of transmission, and legal code to distinguish the moped and scooters from motorcycles.
This kind of license is issued for american citizens in Washington, Michigan, California, Vermont, New York and Minnesota, and se the nationality of the driver appart of the drivers permit. A EDL is a compatible document with a WHTI, acceptable document to cross land or sea borders incoming from Canada, Caribe or Mexico. TO apply for this kind of license it is necessary to bring an American passport and a birth certificate as proof of the nationality. The commercial license and the Motorcycle license also have the same option to be improved.
The permit for disabled persons is issued to those people who comply with a responsible standard driving and parking access. Special access is issued to improve their life when driving. In some States, like in Texas, the disable person can be forced to surrender his or her licenses depending on their disability.
Some States have additional classifications. I.e. Hawaii counts with a special license for motorcycle drivers, and other States count for other separated categories for snow bikes and all terrain vehicles. South Carolina and Georgia issue different versions of commercial licenses for agrobusiness.
The minimum age to obtain a restricted driver’s license in America goes between 14 year old, 3 months in South Dakota, to 17 years old in New Jersey. In most of the States, with the exception of South Dakota, the graduated license will be issued for junior drivers and teenager drivers, who carry the name of Provisional Driver, Junior Operator, Driver in trial period, or intermediate license.
These licenses have some restrictions, like the passenger limit or driving in dark hours for young people. I.e. Younger drivers under 18 in Utah are not allowed to drive other than family members for the first 6 months of issued the license.
Nevertheless, different from Australia and some States in Canada, the law to graduated licenses does not establish reduced speed limits, special plates L and P, restrictions to trailers, or restriction to certain highways and for some specific kind of cars.
There is not two license numbers issued by the State that are equal. Due to identity theft, the Social Security Number does not appear on the drivers license. To comply with the Standar from the AAMVA, most of the States issue the licenses vertically for minors of 21 years old, and horizontally for people older than 21. This way, it is really easy to check if the person is allowed to buy alcohol for example, just seeing the orientation of the driver's license ( The legal age to buy alcoholic beverages in the States is 21).
Keep in mind that this is not like this in all cases, I.e. in Arizona, the orientation of the drivers license can be easily changed regardless of the age, besides, the drivers license doesn't expire until the driver turns 65 years old in Arizona. Most of the States demand drivers to obtain a license issued in their own territory within a certain period of time.
When an interested person applies for a Real ID, as a new applicant or to revenew an old one, he or she must present a citizen document (american passport, birth certificate, Social Security Number, Change of name certificate - if apply- and two proofs of residence on the State). The State will check the documents and will keep a copy. It is not permitted to have more than one Real ID at the time.
A Real ID can be easily identified depending on the State. These nes have a gold or black star on the upper right corner of the card. From October 2011, Connecticut also issued them. From January 2013, Ohia is issuing the Real ID under the name "Safe Identification Card".
California began to issue real IDs in 2018.
From May 2009, only the States of Washington, New York, Vermont and Michigan issued this kind of license. From January 2014, Minnesota was added to the list; now we will have Ohaio that is pending on the approval of the DHS to become on the 6th State to issue Real IDs.
The Secretary of National Security announced in March 2008, that the Improved drivers licenses issue in Washington was the first license approved by the “Occidental Hemisphere Travel Initiative”; According to the press communication of the National Security Department, they are also working with Arizona to develop new improved drivers licences there.
On September 15th, 2008, New York started to issue Improved drivers licenses that comply with the WHTI. Texas was on its way to implement this as well, but the governor Rick Perry stopped all the program, despite that we are talking of a state law authorized by the Texas Department of Public Safety to issue EDL and a final decision of the State general attorney, Greg Abbott, that the production of EDL in Texas will comply with the federal requirements.
Delaware, Iowa and California made a proposition for digital driver licenses as an Identification card. The license will be available as an app by MorphoTrust USA and installed on the mobile phone of the titular. There are some revisions of this because of the privacy policy, as if an officer needs to check the license, he or she will have access to the mobile phone of that person.
In 2016, Louisiana approved the project of law 481, that then became the Law 625, turning Louisiana as the first State to count with digital driver licenses accepted by LA wallet, an application created by Envoc released in July 2018.
This law allows all Louisiana residents to present a digital Id using the LA Wallet to the petition of any police officer, parish or municipality.
If you go to take your first driver's test chances are that, if your a car Enthusiast, this is one of the most exciting days of your life and even if you're not it opens up a world of possibilities for traveling and do things you never could have done before.
If you follow these few simple tips you'll be well on your way and you'll pass the test with no problem.
Before leaving the parking lot and getting out on the road is important to check out your mirrors, adjust your seat position, adjust the steering wheel position and of course fasten your seatbelt.
Proper hand position is at 9 and 3, and i guarantee if you drive one-handed at the 12 position you're going to fail your test. It's important to keep both hands on the steering wheel at all times. Of course if you have a manual transmission vehicle you have to take one hand off the ship, but this will keep your test administrator feeling safe and you will be in the most control of your vehicle.
When changing lanes is important to do the following: First Signal, then look in your rearview mirror all by your side mirror, look over your shoulder, and if is safe, then you can go. Once you're in the lane that you're moving into all the way, then you can turn your turn indicator.
Always signal if you're changing lanes no matter if there's no traffic around you, is important to check both mirrors, look over your shoulder and use your turn signal.
Now if you're going over multiple Lanes ( For example you're on a four-lane road ) always go from one lane to the next, pause for a little bit, then turn your turning indicator on, look at both mirrors over shoulder, go to the next line, pause and then go to the next. Shooting over across 4 Lanes of traffic is a good way to fail the test.
Always give yourself plenty of time when pulling out onto a street with a high speed limit. It will not annoy the person providing your test if you wait there until it's safe.
If you pull out in front of a car that is moving quickly and do not give yourself enough room you're going to lose points. Waiting until there's plenty of space, more so than you think you would need normally, it is the proper way to do it.
Often beginner drivers tend of fear to one side of the lane or the other. On a single Lane road that means you might been too close to the double yellow or too close to the shoulder. If you need to prevent this there is a technique that you can used that is really helpful when you're learning, is to look farther ahead in the road and try to imagine the center of the road, picture a line in the center of the lane you're in passing through the center of your vehicle. This helps keep you in the center of your lane which is important for succeeding at the driver's test.
When you´re coming to a stop sign or an stop or red light is really important to stop before the white line in the road. That mean, when you're coming to a full stop, you should still be able to see the white line in front of the hood of your car. Then, if it's a blind turn, once you come to a full start, now you can start creeping out a little bit further and further so you can see the flow of traffic and make your right or left turn.
Always use a safe following distance between yourself and the car in front of you. The higher the speed limit is, the more the following distance between cars. That is because, if the person in front of you breaks all the sudden, you want to give yourself enough time to react.
Also, before you break, always check your rearview mirror. If you come onto a stop abruptly and there's a car right behind you, they could run into you. Obviously if it's an emergency situation this isn't always possible, but in the ideal case always check your mirror before braking.
Always keep your eyes moving. that means constantly scanning the road for pedestrian, any obstacles or turns that are coming up that means checking your mirrors constantly ( Your rearview mirror, your side mirrors, looking over your shoulder, etc ). Being attentive and showing that you're paying attention is going to go a long way to pass your driver's test.
When making protective left turns people often cut corners. Is something that everyone does on the road all the time: passing over a double yellow or a white line is a great way to fail your driver's test so make sure to take it wide enough, stay in the guidelines when you're making left turns and not cut any corners.
Always be as smooth as possible. It means smooth braking, smooth steering inputs, smooth acceleration, etc. Being jerky is not going to go well.
Drive defensively not aggressively this day is about proving that you are a safe driver not the next F1 star. Prove that on the racetrack.
Don't speed. This is very important. In general people are used to going 5 miles an hour over the speed limit or so when driving in a daily situation but for the test you cannot do that. Speed limit or below is required.
Also having a radar detector in your car for the test probably won't leave a very good first impression.
The DMV wants to check if you are proficient with all the controls on the inside the car before you start the driver test.
Here's a sample of the pre Drive checklist:
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