Dorien: No Sharon?
Tracey: She's out doing her driving lesson.
Dorien: Ah. Thought the streets of Chigwell were very quiet.
Tracey: She's only been gone half an hour; she can't have killed everyone.
Tracey: She's out doing her driving lesson.
Dorien: Ah. Thought the streets of Chigwell were very quiet.
Tracey: She's only been gone half an hour; she can't have killed everyone.
Around the world, cars are a symbol of independence, so learning how to drive symbolizes Coming of Age. In the United States, the age at which you can get a driver's license varies between states, but in most states, you can get one by sixteen.
In some instances, the character learning how to drive is a grown adult who, for whatever reason, simply didn't learn how to drive or doesn't have a driver's license.
The person learning to drive will likely be awful at that, so you should expect hilarity to ensue.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- There's a short arc early in Crayon Shin-chan where the titular character's mother, Misae, applies for the driver's license. And because Misae Drives Like Crazy behind the wheels, Hilarity Ensues — especially when Misae is forced to take Shin-Chan along for the inevitable Driving Test (but she still passes miraculously, with some unexpected assistance from Shin-Chan).
- Dragon Ball Z: One of the most infamous episodes of the anime adaptation is a filler episode where Chi-Chi badgers Goku into getting a driver's license for the sake of appearances despite his protests of how flying around is much more efficient. Piccolo ends up getting roped in with Goku, and chaos ensues as they both almost end up causing massive accidents to everyone around them inside the vehicle. Notably while Goku drives about as badly as you'd expect, Piccolo proves to be a decent driver and only has problems when he starts getting competitive with Goku.
- In an early story of the Tenchi Muyo! manga, Mihoshi tries to get her driver's license since no one in the Masaki household can drive and she wants to help out somehow. Unfortunately, Mihoshi Drives Like Crazy, and she ultimately fails. However, she ends up getting her license after helping the director rescue his granddaughter from a bunch of criminals (which was a good thing as Ryoko and Sasami made a bet that if she got her license, the loser washes dishes for a month).
Film — Live-Action
- In Happy-Go-Lucky, Poppy takes driving lessons, and her relaxed and carefree attitude to life is in sharp contrast with that of her extremely uptight driving instructor, Scott.
Literature
- In "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", the seventeen-year-old wizards and witches taking an extra-curricular course in apparition is the wizarding world's equivalent of taking a driver's education course.
Live-Action TV
- In a 3rd Rock from the Sun episode, a subplot focuses on Tommy learning to drive. In order to help him out, Sally suggests to Officer Don that they bring Tommy along on their date, which results in a One Dialogue, Two Conversations:
Officer Don: Tommy's coming?
Sally: Well, the kid needs to see how it's done. You could show him how to put the key in the ignition.
Officer Don: Couldn't I just buy him some magazines?
Sally: He's been reading about it for weeks. He's ready for the real thing, and I figure he should learn from the master.
Officer Don: Okay, he can come. But I'm not promising anything! - Avataro Sentai Donbrothers: #40 sees Haruka go and get her driver's license. However, since she Drives Like Crazy she ends up causing a couple of her instructors to quit outright, and for the third to be so exasperated to the point that he becomes the Monster of the Week.
- Beverly Hills, 90210: An early episode has the subplot of Brenda trying to earn her driver's license, in spite of being a lackluster driver.
- In the Birds of a Feather (1989) episode, "Non-Starter", Sharon has been taking driving lessons but isn't making much progress, blaming her instructors. Tracey decides to give her lessons herself, but her nerves become shot thanks to all the trouble Sharon has. On her final lesson, she crashes the car into the prison van containing their husbands, Darryl and Chris, who are being transferred to another prison, and the sisters are briefly suspected of attempting a jailbreak. In the end, Sharon decides to put the lessons on hold until she finds a better driving instructor:
Sharon: Yes, well I've decided to give the driving a rest for a while. Till I get a better teacher.Tracey: A different teacher.Sharon: Yes, a different teacher. (Beat) Who's better.
- Blue Bloods: One episode has Erin trying to teach her daughter Nicky to drive, only for Nicky to quit because of her mom's road rage. According to Frank, all the Reagans Drive Like Crazy... except for Erin's calmer younger brother Jamie, who agrees to teach Nicky and has a lot more success.
- Family Ties:
- In "Lady Sings the Blues," Alex and Steven both give Mallory driving lessons. She Drives Like Crazy, terrifying both of them. Steven vows never to get into a car with her again.
- In "My Best Friend's Girl," Jennifer gets her learner's permit. Steven, still traumatized by Mallory's driving, quizzes Jennifer and Elyse on obscure driving ordinances and lectures Jennifer on details like tire pressure. He still doesn't trust her behind the wheel, so he lines up some chairs in the kitchen and has the family sit down so Jennifer can mime driving. Jennifer pretends to jump the car over a drawbridge.
- Good Luck Charlie: On Teddy's 16th birthday, she takes her driver's test. Hilarity Ensues. She is at the side of the road and loses the bottom of her dress. When she comes home to her surprise party, her parents are proud of her for passing the test... but also, they wonder how she managed to get her clothes ripped?
- Mad Men: The episode "Signal 30" is a rare adult example. Having grown up in Manhattan, thirty-something Pete never learned to drive, but now that he's commuting from the suburbs and working on car accounts, he has no choice but to attend a drivers' ed class with a bunch of teenagers, the cherry on top of a long Humiliation Conga of emasculation Pete faces throughout the episode.
- Malcolm in the Middle: The Season 3 episode "Reese Drives" shows Reese's first lesson in Driver's Ed. Reese being Reese, he ends up panicking and accidentally steals the teaching car, culminating in an Escalating Low-Speed Chase between him and an entire department's worth of police cars through the practice track.
- Modern Family: One episode sees Haley struggling to get her driver's license, especially because she has an extremely strict DMV employee as her test giver. When she tearfully breaks down and admits to feeling like a failure, the employee proves himself Not So Stoic and agrees to give her another chance. Haley passes and eagerly leaps out of the car...only to realize that she forgot to activate the parking gear, sending the vehicle rolling down a hill. Claire urges her to run inside and claim her license before the employee can reverse his decision.
- Power Rangers Time Force: In "A Blue Streak", Lucas takes Wes's sports car for a spin but is pulled over and ticketed by the police for speeding. Since his driver's license from the future isn't accepted, he has to attend a driving school to acquire a license in the present day.
- Saved by the Bell: In "Driver's Education", the gang takes driver's education and a jealous Zack tries to sabotage Slater getting his license first.
- Still Standing: In "Still Driving," Brian takes driver's ed, and an excited Bill offers to give him lessons so he can get his license on his sixteenth birthday. Unfortunately, Brian would rather have his mother Judy teach him since she's more laid back than the high-strung Bill.
- The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: London gets her learner's permit and Mr. Moesby offers to teach her to drive. Moesby's nervousness and overbearing combined with London's general ditziness result in her being unable to even properly work the gear shift, or as she calls it, the "PRNDL", and crashing through the wall of the hotel.
- That's So Raven: In the same episode where Raven throws a slumber party, Victor decides to give the girls some privacy by teaching Eddie how to drive. While Eddie's grateful at first, he quickly grows frustrated with Victor's Training from Hell. Along with keeping him in the driveway for a good chunk of the lesson, he has Corey (wearing a horned helmet) run out in front of the (parked) car to simulate a deer in the road (despite the fact that they're in San Francisco).
Radio
- Adventures in Odyssey: "A License to Drive", after yet another argument between Connie and Eugene, caused by Eugene laughing at the idea of Connie being a teacher, Whit chides them for always tearing each other down and then suggests Connie, who aced her driver's test, can teach Eugene how to drive. It's rough going at first, especially as the vehicle is a standard shift. And during the lesson on parallel parking, Eugene bumps the trash can Connie set up to represent the other car, and as it had glass bottles in it, they get to his next lesson; changing a flat tire. Eugene finally manages to drive when they encounter a pregnant woman in labor needing assistance and Connie gives him the choice of driving or trying to deliver the baby.
Video Games
- Mario Party 2: A special minigame named "Driver's Ed" unlocked after purchasing all other minigames (which in turn requires having completed Mini-Game Coaster in all difficulty levels). In it, the player's character of choice can participate in a driving test where they traverse a circuit to burst ballons in numbered order (from the first to the twentieth). This minigame comes up in five levels.
Web Animation
- Moments with Heavy: "Heavy Takes His Driving Test", has Heavy do exactly that, along with a bunch of RED mercenaries who screw it up in various ways.
Web Original
- The aptly named Smosh episode License Test has Anthony take part in a driver's test, after failing the test three times due to refusing to run over an old man, run over some babies and his driving instructor failing a home invasion, he resorts to committing felonies (Such as triple homicide, vehicular manslaughter and home invasion) to pass the driver's test and ends up becoming a wanted man.
- SuperMarioLogan: In "Bowser's Driver's License", Junior finds out from Bowser that Bowser does not have his own driver's license, since his mother wouldn't let him get one. Bowser also has Chef Pee Pee drive him wherever he wants because he finds it easier than trying to get a license. Junior manages to convince Bowser to try getting his driver's license by telling him that he could drive to a meet and greet hosted by Charleyyy of Charleyyy and Friends fame. Bowser goes to the DMV to take his driver's test, where Brooklyn T. Guy is his driving instructor. During his test, Bowser neglects to wear his seatbelt, drives over the traffic cones, neglects to stop at the stop sign, uses the wrong turn signal, yells with his mother about a spaghetti dinner over the phone, and yells at Jackie Chu. All of these infractions result in Brooklyn failing him.
Western Animation
- Amphibia: A variation in "Anne Theft Auto": Anne is told that in order to be able to drive Bessie, the family snail, she must read Bessie’s manual. Lacking the patience to read the sizable tome, she instead takes Bessie for a joyride, eventually getting lost in the wilderness. With Bessie retreating into her shell and refusing to move, Anne is forced to finally crack open the manual, learning the information she needs to get Bessie started up again, escape from a pack of predatory hedgehogs, and get back to the road.
- The Beetlejuice (1989) episode "Don't Beetlejuice and Drive" is about Beetlejuice and Doomie having to go back to traffic school after distributing phony driver's licenses.
- Big City Greens: “Gramma’s License” opens with Officer Keys revoking Alice’s driver’s license due to it having expired before he was even born, and it literally crumbling to dust in his hands. Cricket and Tilly build an obstacle course to help train her to retake the exam, but she quits thanks to a lack of confidence. The kids try to restore her confidence by tricking her into a moving car, but they lose control of it and stumble into a demolition derby. Thankfully they are able to get her confidence back in time to save their lives, and she is later able to pass the exam and get her license back (with restrictions due to her age).
- Bob's Burgers: One episode has Bob teaching Tina how to drive. It ends up being about insurance fraud when she bumps into another motorist's car.
- Code Lyoko: Downplayed in A Bad Turn, as the episode doesn't fully focus on it, but it serves a major role regardless. During the beginning of the episode, various students at Kadic Academy are instructed on the rules of the road and how to drive safely, as well as being given the chance to drive in a car alongside an officer. Success varies wildly among the students (Though we only see/hear how well Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, William, and Sissi perform). This class turns into an example of Chekhov's Skill when William later uses the car from the class to run over a materialized Krab during a XANA attack.
- Doug: In "Doug's Behind The Wheel", Doug tells Patti that his sister Judy will be able to drive them to the opening of a brand new amusement park, Bumper Car Mania. The trouble is Judy is having trouble learning to parallel park, so Doug tries to help her learn so that she can get her driver's license in time.
- Family Guy: In "I Never Met the Dead Man", Meg is learning to drive. Peter is addicted to TV and only helps her during commercial breaks or when Lois forces him to. His driving advice is that if someone stares you down at a red light, you have to race them (and, for bonus points, flip them off). Meg naturally does this during her actual driver's test and fails it.
- I Am Weasel: The episode "Driver's Sped" has I.R. Baboon attempting to get his driver's license with I.M. Weasel acting as his instructor. Throughout the driving test, Baboon speaks in rhymes as he drives through the city in a "Miami Vice"-style fashion. It's revealed in the end that Baboon was never actually trying to get a driver's license, but rather a "poetic license".
- Kim Possible: The episode "Car Trouble" reveals that Kim, despite frequently piloting air and watercraft, doesn't have a license. She initially cheats on her test using a Sentient Vehicle named SADI, an AI-powered sedan designed by the Victim of the Week but ultimately passes on her own merits at the end of the episode.
- The Looney Tunes Show: The episode "The DMV" has Daffy, Lola, and Porky all going to the DMV. Both Daffy and Lola move on from the written exam by switching their test with Porky's, who gets every question right. They both get their licenses despite driving like absolute maniacs.
- The Loud House:
- "Driving Miss Hazy" involves Leni's younger siblings trying to teach her to drive, since her older sister Lori always asks for favours in exchange for lifts. They manage to do a pretty good job until Lori feeds her bad advice in her sleep.
- In "Driver's Dread", which takes place a year later, Leni tries learning to drive again but still cannot. However, upon realising that it's mostly Fear-Induced Idiocy slowing her down, she finally learns to drive after facing her fear.
- Megas XLR: In "DMV: Department of Megas Violations," Megas is impounded after Coop improperly parks it — just as an evil bounty hunter from the future arrives to attack Kiva. As the two engage in a massive battle, Coop learns that his license has expired and has to take various tests (including a written and driving portion) to get it renewed. Things get even worse when he tries to help Kiva in her fight, which is naturally happening during his road test, leaving the proctor screaming in fear.
- The Patrick Star Show: In "Driven to Drive", Cecil teaches Patrick how to drive. Hilarity Ensues, including an impromptu job at a taxi service, crashing into a motor speedway, picking up an annoying hitchhiker, and later being chased down by the police, with Patrick needing to get his license fast so he won't be arrested.
- Phineas and Ferb:
- In the episode "It's a Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud World", Candace has just gotten her learner's permit, but loses her nerve when her parallel parking lesson goes bad. To help her regain her confidence behind the wheel, the boys build an arena for a monster truck rally. Candace does surprisingly well, even earning the respect of the other truck drivers.
- In “The Doonkelberry Imperative” Dr. Doofenshmirtz returns to his original home of Drusselstein to renew his driver’s license. He is forced to retake the driving exam in order to do so, and ends up causing complete chaos as he does the ‘Dangerous Drusselstein Driving Test Waltz’. Surprisingly, he does manage to get re-certified.
- Rocko's Modern Life: "Skid Marks", Rocko has to go to Traffic School after his car is impounded for missing its gas cap (it was stolen by a squirrel who stowed away in his car).
- Sabrina: The Animated Series: In "Driver Ed", Hilda is learning how to drive, but her attempts almost get Quigley killed, so he refuses to continue helping her. Sabrina tries to help her focus by using the Spookie Jar's magic and finding a dog to turn into a handsome instructor (yes, it's a weird show). Unfortunately, Hilda and Zelda start feuding once the latter sees Ed the dog-man.
- SpongeBob SquarePants has a number of episodes where the titular sponge tries unsuccessfully to earn his boating license at Mrs. Puff's boating school. Because he Drives Like Crazy, this often results in Mrs. Puff either getting injured or arrested.
- Teen Titans Go!: The episode "Driver's Ed" has Robin getting his driver's license revoked after blowing up the Batmobile. He starts taking driving classes from an instructor named Ed, who turns out to be a bank robber using him as a getaway driver. Robin catches on, and feeds Ed to the demon he accidentally released earlier in the episode.
- X-Men: Evolution: In "X-Treme Measures", Kitty gets her learner's permit and is looking for a licensed driver to take her driving. She goes driving with Wolverine, who's horrified by her erratic driving. When it looks like they're about to drive through the mansion's front gates, she manages to phase them through, avoiding an accident.