6 ms·

I Germany you pay easily 2500€ to get a driver's license. Just the thought that you would share the road with cars driven remotely by call center employees in

by jansan 4y ago

I Germany you pay easily 2500€ to get a driver's license. Just the thought that you would share the road with cars driven remotely by call center employees in Asia is hilarious and frightening at the same time.

ta1243 4y ago
My understanding in the US is that in many states the process to get a driving license is barely more than "Can you show me your car" "Yes, it's that one" "OK, here's your license"
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- madsbuch 4y ago
  This is not the case in Europe. In Denmark you need to pass both a theoretical and practical test (With a large percentage of people failing). In Denmark a driver license set you back roughly 2000 EUR and requires you to take 29x45min theory lessons and 24x45min on roads with a certified teacher.
  - wil421 4y ago
    I don’t think it’s the case in my state either. Beside having a permit for 1 year and one day you have to take a test as well as the following: >You must complete an approved driver education course with a certified private or public driver training school using one of the following methods. Approved classes are also offered online. You must also complete each item in the method you choose. Method 1 30 hours of classroom instruction 6 hours behind the wheel training at the certified school 40 hours of supervised driving with a parent or guardian (6 hours of the 40 hours must be at night) Method 2 30 hours of classroom instruction at the certified school 40 hours parent-taught behind-the-wheel training. Parent/Teen Driving Guide (includes 40 hours of supervised driving with parent or guardian) Method 3 30 hours of online instruction with a certified virtual program 6 hours behind the wheel training at a certified school 40 hours of supervised driving with a parent or guardian (6 hours of the 40 hours must be at night) Method 4 30 hours of online instruction with a certified virtual program 40 hours of parent-taught behind-the-wheel training. After you do the above you need to take a driving test. You need to be able to parallel park, reverse park, and do a variety of things while driving around. Not sure where European readers could be located, but snow driving is not taught in my state. We get snow every couple years at most and it rarely sticks to roads.
- llampx 4y ago
  It really depends. I had to have a real driving test with surface streets, highway driving, as well as parallel and reverse 90 degree parking. In Minnesota. Where I was just exchanging my license for a US/Minnesotan one.
- danielrpa 4y ago
  Has this person ever lived in the US? I had to take a pretty demanding law test with a 90% passing grade, a parking test and a street driving test when I got my US driving license.
  - nivenkos 4y ago
    It depends massively on the state no? CA was pretty tough, they even fail you for driving too slow.
    - calpaterson 4y ago
      You can be failed for driving too slow in the UK as well. "Undue hesitance".
  - sanitycheck 4y ago
    Here's a relevant article by someone who experienced getting an American license and a British license: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/uk-driving-law-versus-us https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/uk-dri... (Not sure how accurate that is, as with all things on the internet.)
- smcl 4y ago
  I can only speak of what I've heard from people I know, but I've not heard anything like this in the USA, though it is a little odd to think of people as young as 14 driving around. A few friends from remote countryside had relatively easy driving tests, but the easiest-sounding test was my friend from Mumbai (he'd always refer to it as "Bombay" and I never figured out if that was his preference or if he was trying to accommodate us). He said his driving test boiled down to driving round a block and not hitting anything or doing something particularly stupid.
  - ta1243 4y ago
    > driving round a block and not hitting anything To be honest I'd struggle to do that in most Indian cities, and I've got 25 years experience of not hitting anything in the UK.
incompatible 4y ago
Perhaps it would be cheaper to hire somebody in the call centre to drive your car than to get the license to do it yourself.
dom96 4y ago
It can be as high as that in the UK as well. Depending on how many lessons you need. The driver's test is certainly far more difficult than the one in the US. I'm actually going through this now in the UK and I feel like the way they do it could be much better. The randomness of driving on real roads makes luck an important factor to passing.
- nerdawson 4y ago
  Realistically it should be around half that. The average driver needs 45 hours worth of lessons. Add to that the cost of a provisional license, the theory test, and the driving test and it’s around £1,300.
  - verbify 4y ago
    That was approximately my cost (in London). £22 per hour, 40 lessons, then an additional £100 for the instructor to take me to the test, wait, and drop me home. Add in the cost of the theory/practical test, and the inflation of the last 6 years, and you arrive at your figure.
    - nivenkos 4y ago
      Damn, how did you find such "cheap" lessons? Even in Spain it was about 22 quid per 45 minutes and then 150 euros for the test. And here in Sweden it's double that across the board :/
- notahacker 4y ago
  How would they do it better? The randomness of real roads is something drivers have to deal with, and the test routes are supposed to be 45 minutes covering a variety of road conditions, so it's near impossible to pass if you haven't got the hang of basics like picking a suitable lane and merging at roundabouts and checking stuff in mirrors which is what it's testing for, regardless of traffic levels and roadworks and some cities having different layouts to others. There isn't an expectation that new drivers will never be flummoxed by encountering weird behaviour from other drivers or an oddly laid out junction, and you can rebook another test asap if you're confident the only things you were failed on were hesitancy or overcorrection in response to chance events. As with most learning processes which finish with an exam, the need to undergo a general learning process to get to the stage where it's likely that you will actually pass is more important than the exact equivalence of the tests.
the_mitsuhiko 4y ago
I would be curious though if the more expensive and involved driving license in many European countries results in better outcomes though. Wouldn't be surprised if the main factor is practice over everything else.
- nicoburns 4y ago
  > Wouldn't be surprised if the main factor is practice over everything else. European driving licenses are expensive because they require more practice. You pay for the practice hours. The tests themselves are much cheaper.
- calpaterson 4y ago
  > I would be curious though if the more expensive and involved driving license in many European countries results in better outcomes though. It doesn't. UK road fatalities are very low compared to mainland Europe and it doesn't matter much whether your divisor for that stat is number of vehicles or number of miles driven. It's arguable how much of that is down to the driving test and how much down to other factors like rules, rule following behavior, etc etc - but I think at least some of it is.

by jansan 4y ago

ta1243 4y ago

My understanding in the US is that in many states the process to get a driving license is barely more than "Can you show me your car" "Yes, it's that one" "OK, here's your license"

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
madsbuch 4y ago
This is not the case in Europe. In Denmark you need to pass both a theoretical and practical test (With a large percentage of people failing). In Denmark a driver license set you back roughly 2000 EUR and requires you to take 29x45min theory lessons and 24x45min on roads with a certified teacher.
- wil421 4y ago
  I don’t think it’s the case in my state either. Beside having a permit for 1 year and one day you have to take a test as well as the following: >You must complete an approved driver education course with a certified private or public driver training school using one of the following methods. Approved classes are also offered online. You must also complete each item in the method you choose. Method 1 30 hours of classroom instruction 6 hours behind the wheel training at the certified school 40 hours of supervised driving with a parent or guardian (6 hours of the 40 hours must be at night) Method 2 30 hours of classroom instruction at the certified school 40 hours parent-taught behind-the-wheel training. Parent/Teen Driving Guide (includes 40 hours of supervised driving with parent or guardian) Method 3 30 hours of online instruction with a certified virtual program 6 hours behind the wheel training at a certified school 40 hours of supervised driving with a parent or guardian (6 hours of the 40 hours must be at night) Method 4 30 hours of online instruction with a certified virtual program 40 hours of parent-taught behind-the-wheel training. After you do the above you need to take a driving test. You need to be able to parallel park, reverse park, and do a variety of things while driving around. Not sure where European readers could be located, but snow driving is not taught in my state. We get snow every couple years at most and it rarely sticks to roads.
llampx 4y ago
It really depends. I had to have a real driving test with surface streets, highway driving, as well as parallel and reverse 90 degree parking. In Minnesota. Where I was just exchanging my license for a US/Minnesotan one.
danielrpa 4y ago
Has this person ever lived in the US? I had to take a pretty demanding law test with a 90% passing grade, a parking test and a street driving test when I got my US driving license.
- nivenkos 4y ago
  It depends massively on the state no? CA was pretty tough, they even fail you for driving too slow.
  - calpaterson 4y ago
    You can be failed for driving too slow in the UK as well. "Undue hesitance".
- sanitycheck 4y ago
  Here's a relevant article by someone who experienced getting an American license and a British license: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/uk-driving-law-versus-us https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/02/uk-dri... (Not sure how accurate that is, as with all things on the internet.)
smcl 4y ago
I can only speak of what I've heard from people I know, but I've not heard anything like this in the USA, though it is a little odd to think of people as young as 14 driving around. A few friends from remote countryside had relatively easy driving tests, but the easiest-sounding test was my friend from Mumbai (he'd always refer to it as "Bombay" and I never figured out if that was his preference or if he was trying to accommodate us). He said his driving test boiled down to driving round a block and not hitting anything or doing something particularly stupid.
- ta1243 4y ago
  > driving round a block and not hitting anything To be honest I'd struggle to do that in most Indian cities, and I've got 25 years experience of not hitting anything in the UK.

incompatible 4y ago

Perhaps it would be cheaper to hire somebody in the call centre to drive your car than to get the license to do it yourself.

dom96 4y ago

It can be as high as that in the UK as well. Depending on how many lessons you need. The driver's test is certainly far more difficult than the one in the US. I'm actually going through this now in the UK and I feel like the way they do it could be much better. The randomness of driving on real roads makes luck an important factor to passing.

nerdawson 4y ago
Realistically it should be around half that. The average driver needs 45 hours worth of lessons. Add to that the cost of a provisional license, the theory test, and the driving test and it’s around £1,300.
- verbify 4y ago
  That was approximately my cost (in London). £22 per hour, 40 lessons, then an additional £100 for the instructor to take me to the test, wait, and drop me home. Add in the cost of the theory/practical test, and the inflation of the last 6 years, and you arrive at your figure.
  - nivenkos 4y ago
    Damn, how did you find such "cheap" lessons? Even in Spain it was about 22 quid per 45 minutes and then 150 euros for the test. And here in Sweden it's double that across the board :/
notahacker 4y ago
How would they do it better? The randomness of real roads is something drivers have to deal with, and the test routes are supposed to be 45 minutes covering a variety of road conditions, so it's near impossible to pass if you haven't got the hang of basics like picking a suitable lane and merging at roundabouts and checking stuff in mirrors which is what it's testing for, regardless of traffic levels and roadworks and some cities having different layouts to others. There isn't an expectation that new drivers will never be flummoxed by encountering weird behaviour from other drivers or an oddly laid out junction, and you can rebook another test asap if you're confident the only things you were failed on were hesitancy or overcorrection in response to chance events. As with most learning processes which finish with an exam, the need to undergo a general learning process to get to the stage where it's likely that you will actually pass is more important than the exact equivalence of the tests.

the_mitsuhiko 4y ago

I would be curious though if the more expensive and involved driving license in many European countries results in better outcomes though. Wouldn't be surprised if the main factor is practice over everything else.

nicoburns 4y ago
> Wouldn't be surprised if the main factor is practice over everything else. European driving licenses are expensive because they require more practice. You pay for the practice hours. The tests themselves are much cheaper.
calpaterson 4y ago
> I would be curious though if the more expensive and involved driving license in many European countries results in better outcomes though. It doesn't. UK road fatalities are very low compared to mainland Europe and it doesn't matter much whether your divisor for that stat is number of vehicles or number of miles driven. It's arguable how much of that is down to the driving test and how much down to other factors like rules, rule following behavior, etc etc - but I think at least some of it is.