Oscar, you might be right actually. I do remember something about people in TX being able to get their licenses a bit younger under certain circumstances; I think if you have no family/parents and you live in the country you can drive on Farm roads at 15 or something like that.
While I said it is 18 years old orginally I take that back - I was getting confused with the England/France situation (you can drive at 17 in UK but not in France even if you have a UK license you must be 18 to drive in France)
Oscar, you can download the Texas drivers handbook from the internet which will tell you all this...
Of course, being from the UK I have had the same 'problems' as you guys in respect of insurance etc. I am currently with Unitrin Direct via insurance.com and pay $920 a year full coverage.
When I first got here I had to really really shop around for insurance. I got some stupid quotes from people like Progressive ($2000 a year for a Prelude). I ended up going via PLI with a company called Chubb Insurance on the Z3 and that was $1244 a year.
After 2 years in the USA I have no credit history and I get penalised for this because, as you say, they don't 'know' me. It really pisses me off as the reason I have no credit history is I don't need or want credit. The only time I have needed to borrow in 2 years was when I first got here and I used my UK credit card for part payment of my Z3.
Americans don't seem to understand the concept of saving up for stuff rather than borrowing (no offence to anyone, but I am sure the non-US citizens lving here have also noticed this). I earn enough and live within my means so as not need to borrow money yet I get penalised for this. IT FUCKS ME OFF!
rant over!
