<p>Fwiw, cars stopping for pedestrians isn't unusual in California...it's the law. You don't even half to be in a crosswalk.</p>
<p>what?!? what's with this! </p>
<p><em>sigh</em> i really have to get out of the new york region more.</p>
<p>What? Cars don't stop for people? What is this monstrosity? Karen, what planet are you living in?? :P</p>
<p>It may be the law in California, but I can say from personal experience that crossing the street in San Francisco is a near-death experience. Always.</p>
<p>You get used to it; you come near death but they'll never hit you 'cause then their insurance will go up.</p>
<p>Karen: in northampton, drivers must yield to pedestrians crossing the street on crosswalks.</p>
<p>Also, to the OP:</p>
<p>As a first-year, your daughter won't be able to have a car on campus, so unless she borrows a friend's car (since she cannot be a confirmed driver of a smith vehicle until she is a sophomore or has had her license for 2+ years, and zipcars are not available to those under 21), she really won't be driving that much her first year.</p>
<p>“and zipcars are not available to those under 21), "</p>
<p>You can rent a zipcar at 18. Yeah, I know, what are they thinking!</p>
<p>It does get confusing. You don't need to be a sophomore to drive a SGA van; however, you do need two yrs. driving experience. The sooner the OP’s daughter gets her license, the sooner she'll satisfy the two yr. driving experience requirement. </p>
<p>S&P, my experience in SF is that you step out into the street and glare at the driver as they approach. Never been hit. The other approach is to step out impassively, watching the approaching car(s) from the corner of your eye, advancing at the steady pace of the French Imperial Guard at Waterloo.</p>
<p>I think it's funny that some in this thread seem to think that cars in Northampton always stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. Sure it's the law, but I've been in the middle of the crosswalk, usually on Elm Street, only to have someone drive right through in front of me more than once (and sometimes you have to wait for a few cars to go through the crosswalk before one actually stops).</p>
<p>borgin, there's always an a-hole, or 10,000.</p>
<p>Lost in Translat: I wasn't trying to imply the French are bad drivers at all. Actually, what I was trying to say that the French standards are so high, that letting someone certified by the US drive in France is a bad idea because the French training will give you better preparation to drive in France (and in general).</p>
<p>You can take the US test with an Automatic.</p>
<p>Borgin, I saw that in NoHo too. Of course, on more than one occasion we also observed the synchronized pedestrian crosswalk team: you stop for a pedestrian and just as they are about to clear, another pedestrian steps into the walk and then just as <em>they</em> are about to clear, <em>another</em> pedestrian steps into the walk, rinse, lather, repeat. If they had either crossed together or the intervals were longer, traffic could have proceeded.</p>
<p>Thanks to all of you for info and support. My D. will certainly take the test in NoHo, because 18 + 4 = 22 and I can't see her waiting that long to be able to drive. When/if she comes back in the summer, I'll give her a few extra lessons, and she knows that she HAS to take the US test on a non-automatic car if she wants to drive mine. She calls this blackmail, I call it commonsense.</p>
<p>Non-automatic cars that aren't sports cars are pretty rare in the U.S. these days...I doubt that they account for much more than about 2-3/// 5-7 percent of the market share, if that.</p>
<p>Way back when the auto had just been invented, I did a lot of my learning and took my driver's test in then-standard-shift car. Haven't driven one in a couple of decades. But I'm scheduled to drive a standard-shift Skoda or some such from Vienna to Prague around the first of next month...the sound you don't hear is from me stalling the engine a few times. Just got the paperwork today. The dice are on the table.</p>
<p>haha my mom has a few accidents of rolling back into cars and crashing the car in our garage (in belgium) because she forgot which gear is reverse. Good Luck TD!</p>