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US drivers’ licensing is much less rigorous than Europe’s as I understand it. In Arkansas, where I live, I got a “learner’s permit” at 14 having passed a short

US drivers’ licensing is much less rigorous than Europe’s as I understand it. In Arkansas, where I live, I got a “learner’s permit” at 14 having passed a short written test. I got my full license at 16 after passing the road test, which consisted of driving for perhaps ten minutes with a cop in the passenger’s seat. I had to drive around the parking lot, navigate and park between traffic cones, then drive the testing route. The testing route started in an industrial part of town with very little traffic and consisted of driving about a mile to a residential neighborhood, circling the block, and coming back to the testing center. I remember being surprised that I didn’t have to demonstrate parallel parking or even driving on a highway. I think I “studied” for the written test by skimming the handout brochure at school during lunch, and had no issues. The driving test was a joke; I’m very confident my 7-year-old could pass it today based only on her having driven utility vehicles (e.g., a Kubota RTV) around our family’s property and having watched us drive from the back seat. Apparently Arkansas revised the licensing system in 2009, and now there is an “Intermediate” license for people under 18. That license is restricted from driving from 11pm to 4am (with exceptions), prohibited from using a cell phone while driving (with exceptions), and all passengers must be wearing a seat belt. If you’re married, in the military, have graduated high school (or equivalent) or have been legally emancipated you can get your full license at the age of 16 years and six months. This discussion had me curious about how the very different licensing regimes might impact outcomes, so I looked up some statistics on motor vehicle fatalities. US (2018): * 12.4 per 100k residents * 14.2 per 100k vehicles Europe (2016) * 9.3 per 100k residents * 19 per 100k vehicles Poland (2019) * 7.7 per 100k residents * 13.5 per 100k vehicles Honestly, I don’t think there’s a substantial impact. The US has 838 vehicles per 1k residents compared to Poland’s 719. I strongly suspect that US drivers drive substantially more miles per year on average, which would more than account for the per capita numbers. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-r...

VLM 6y ago
WRT fatalities its not apples to apples comparison as USA highways are incredibly expensive with concrete barriers between oncoming traffic and in Ireland the highways between cities are literally two lanes no barriers much like USA farm roads yet with interstate highway levels of traffic. Meanwhile the cars involved in the accidents are often unimaginably small and lightweight in EU. Rolling a typical Irish car off the road must have an outcome much like rolling a golf cart would, certainly fatal to the occupants, whereas rolling a typical USA SUV into the ditch will ruin the trim and probably the glass but the occupants should be unharmed if they're wearing seatbelts.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  I don't think you realize how Americans drive on undivided highways and rural roads nor how strong the cabins of all highway capable vehicles for sale in the US and Europe are.
- KptMarchewa 6y ago
  1) You're comparing 6 million people country with 300 million people country. 2) I've looked M4 and M7 in Ireland on Google Maps and they have two lanes each side with separation. 3) There is plenty highways in Europe with concrete barriers and few lanes each way.
  - spacemanmatt 6y ago
    > 1) ...300 million people The urban density matters more than the country's population

VLM 6y ago

WRT fatalities its not apples to apples comparison as USA highways are incredibly expensive with concrete barriers between oncoming traffic and in Ireland the highways between cities are literally two lanes no barriers much like USA farm roads yet with interstate highway levels of traffic. Meanwhile the cars involved in the accidents are often unimaginably small and lightweight in EU. Rolling a typical Irish car off the road must have an outcome much like rolling a golf cart would, certainly fatal to the occupants, whereas rolling a typical USA SUV into the ditch will ruin the trim and probably the glass but the occupants should be unharmed if they're wearing seatbelts.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
I don't think you realize how Americans drive on undivided highways and rural roads nor how strong the cabins of all highway capable vehicles for sale in the US and Europe are.
KptMarchewa 6y ago
1) You're comparing 6 million people country with 300 million people country. 2) I've looked M4 and M7 in Ireland on Google Maps and they have two lanes each side with separation. 3) There is plenty highways in Europe with concrete barriers and few lanes each way.
- spacemanmatt 6y ago
  > 1) ...300 million people The urban density matters more than the country's population