This blog may be rather dry to some, as I'm kind of addressing it as though I were informing another military spouse of all the awesome processes they'll have to go through, so I'll understand if you skip to the pictures or another post. But I know reading posts like this before I came abroad greatly helped inform me about what to do and expect, so now I'm paying it forward. Here goes...
My DH and I were smart before
moving here, and if there happen to be any military wives reading this who are
about to PCS overseas, I highly recommend you do what we did. We shipped our
car ridiculously early. Lol, or so it seemed at the time. Our car shipped off
on November 5th when we were back at Luke AFB. We knew we wouldn’t
be arriving in Italy until January 3rd, and not having a vehicle in the states for
two months was often rather difficult. However, it takes about two months for
things to reach Italy (like your car or household goods shipment).
Our car arrived just before the
end of the year, so it was ready to be picked up as soon as we could register
it and get our licenses. This was a huge freedom (and believe me, after a few
long days of briefings and paperwork, you’ll be itching to get off base and see
Italy). It also allowed us to start house hunting just days after arriving. We
were able to have the comfort of our own vehicle while other families were
forced to rent a vehicle until theirs came (and a car rental is not
something the military will reimburse you for, unlike your reimbursements for temporary lodging and food).
We made due for the two months without a car back in the states, and despite
being 6 and 7 months pregnant, I would walk or bike to base, get groceries and
goods, stuff them in my back pack, and carry them home. It was great exercise!
We also had some very kind friends who would occasionally loan us their car if
we had a doctor appointment or something else that was too far for us to bike
to. In my opinion, it’s sooo much better to have your own car ready and waiting
when you arrive at your new station than to be in a new place and also driving and paying for
a rental car while waiting for yours to show. All right, enough about that. Now I
will inform you what the process was like to get a drivers license and what
it’s like to drive on Italian streets.
Step 1: The Driver's License
Troy was able to get his license the day after we arrived. They had a "Jumpstart" program for airmen and they helped him get on the process. It was good to get it out of the way, though we couldn't get our car until the following Tuesday anyway. He came home and gave me the necessary links I would need to study for the drivers test. For those coming to Aviano here's the link: http://www.31fss.com/afrc/web/inbound-driving.html On the top right of the page you can read through the study guide and also study the various road signs. Then you can click on the top link and take the two tests. One is a multiple choice test about the rules of the road/driving, and the other is a 50 question test on the road signs alone. I took a screen shot (see below) of the chart presented on the test.
As you can see, there are exactly 50 sign options (though you have 118
signs to study on the study pamphlet) and each option is only used once during the test.
So if you think one sign can apply to two questions, you're wrong, try again.
The chart will stay the same and you simply click on the sign that correctly
answers the question. The test can take a long time as you have to search the
chart for the sign you're looking for. In order to be granted a license you
must pass both the multiple choice test and the road signs test with 100%.
However don't worry if you don't get a perfect score your first time, you will
be given successive chances to take the tests.
Looking at the chart, you can probably already guess what some of the signs
mean without having done any studying. The large "P" in the top row
is obviously a sign for parking and two over to the right from that is a sign
that anyone could guess to mean, "Don't come this way!". However not
all signs are so self explanatory. In the second row you can see there are two
similar signs, both blue with a white arrow pointing up. However, one is a
round sign while the other is square. The round one means you must take that
street and that that is the mandatory direction of travel. (After some driving
I have found that there is usually the red "don't go this way" sign
nearby on a street they don't want you to enter. The square sign with the arrow
indicates a one-way street only.
I recommend printing
the PDF file of the road signs so you can have it all right in front of you for
the test. That way it has the exact wording/explanation under each sign,
as some are similar in meaning. You could also keep the tab open on the
computer and flip from that to the test, but that little trick of CTRL + F
won't work to let you search through the document, and I found it much harder
to scroll through the pages of bright signs than to look down at the sheet of
them in front of me, but to each his own.
After passing both tests with
100%, they will email you a certificate of completion which you will print and
later give to proper authorities. My "proper authorities" were at the
Right Start program the following week. On Monday they had us fill out a basic
information sheet, hair, eye color, weight, etc. On the following day, Tuesday,
you hand in the print out of your completed test and they will give you your
license. Here's what my driver's license looks like. I was surprised they required
no photo ID on it or patterns or shimmery colors to make it difficult to
copy/fake, but it's supposed to be a supplement to your license from the states, which does have a photo ID. (so both must be presented if you're pulled over)
Step 2: Registering the Car
Now to begin the lengthy
process of getting your car registered… In order to get your car registered,
you must first have your license. We’ve got that, check. Next, go to the
warehouse where your car was shipped. (You should be have gotten an email when
your car arrived). Here they will give you the paperwork saying that yes your
car has in fact been delivered and is waiting for you. It will have your vin #
and other such information on it.
Next, you must get a license
plate. You can get these from the same people who processed your licenses at
Pass and Registration. You give them the paperwork from the warehouse as well
as proof of your insurance. (For Italy I believe only USAA and Geico offer the
type of insurance needed) They will give you your new plate numbers, which you
send to the insurance company. They will send you the updated insurance card by
emailing it directly to the pass and registration office. Then the Pass and
Registration office will print the card for you and give you the actual plates.
The Insurance cards here are small and white and must be displayed in your
front windshield at all times. Below you can see the plates on our car. The
plates in Italy are much longer than the plates in the States. I should have
gotten a picture before, when we had long pieces of blue tape keeping our plate
on until we were able to buy a plate adaptor bracket at the store to fit the
long plate and different screw holes.
Then you go to the foreign
nationals at Pass and Registration and pay road tax (since we only have one car
it was about $5). Then they will register your car. You take this information back
to the warehouse where your car was shipped and do an inspection of your car
and put the plates on. If you need to file a claim, this is the time to do so. We
had to file a claim as we had a damaged hubcab. The first time my DH stopped at
the warehouse he discovered we were missing three hubcabs. My first thought was,
“Shoot, I didn’t take pictures of the car!”. Before leaving AZ, military
spouses had told me the dangers of shipping and traveling, that things would
get broken and how difficult it was to file claims if you had no proof that they were the ones who damaged it. They advised having a
detailed inventory of everything, so I spent days meticulously inventorying all of
our possessions, complete with pictures, dimensions, serial numbers, you name
it. I realized in that moment, that I had forgotten the car, really the most
expensive thing we own and I failed to document its condition.
Thankfully the three hubcabs
were found in the trunk and only one was damaged. (It was missing a huge chunk,
not sure how that happens…) They also agreed the fault was theirs and
reimbursed us for it.
Alright, almost done
registering! Within 15 days of having the car, you must get it inspected and
take that passing inspection back to Pass and Registration. (If you don’t,
there are heavy fines!) We did ours the same day. We didn’t pass at first
because we forgot some essentials. In Italy, you are required to have a
reflective vest and a reflective triangle road sign. You are required to render
assistance if you witness something or there’s an animal on the side of the
road. So you pull over, put on the vest, and place the triangle a distance
behind the car to warn people to slow down. So we had to go and purchase those
before passing. We did this and were fully registered by Tuesday evening. Woohoo!
Step 3: Hit the Road!!!
We were now good to drive the streets of Italy! I will
detail Italian driving and our experiences in part 2.
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