3 ms·

How much does a driver's license cost in the US? What do you have to do in order to get one? Here in Germany, my son has to sit through 14 theory lessons and t

by jansan 3y ago

How much does a driver's license cost in the US? What do you have to do in order to get one? Here in Germany, my son has to sit through 14 theory lessons and then pass a theoretical test (with questions out of a pool of 1400 questions). Then he needs 12 mandatory driving lessons (night, highway, country road) and probably 8 more lessons to get him to the rquired level to pass the driving test. This will set me back approx 3000€ ($3000). IMO the requirements for a drivers license in Germany are a bit too strikt, but what I heard from my brother, who got his drivers license in Minnesota during a high school exchange year, the requirements in the US are really, really low. Maybe we can agree on an international standard somewhere in the middle?

theshrike79 3y ago
From movies I've learned that Americans get their licenses in high-school by a teacher who just gives them the license so they don't need to sit through another crappy attempt at the course they built in the parking lot with traffic cones. Dunno how it works for real, but can't be much different =)
- vanilla_nut 3y ago
  Most states have something like this: - at ~16, you become eligible for a driving permit which allows for supervised driving only - getting the permit requires you to "pass" a pathetic 10ish question exam for which the literal questions and (multiple choice) answers are publicly available - after 6-12 months (again, variable) you become eligible to get your full license - to get a license, you usually need a guardian or affiliated adult to sign a form saying they taught you for over 40 hours of supervised driving. - sometimes you also need a "safety class" or possible a "driver's education" class. Driver's education can be useful, since it's literally just a teacher riding around in a car driven by students and pointing out where the students go wrong. Safety classes are almost invariably useless, since they mostly just regurgitate rules of the road and obvious safety tips that most students immediately forget. - Once you become eligible for a license, you go to a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the same place where you got your permit. Schedule an appointment, and an employee will take you for a driving test. In the driving test, you have to show your mettle at serious challenges like parallel parking a car, stopping at stop signs, looking over your shoulder while changing lanes, and looking both ways before making a turn at a stop. This basic test has a less than 50% passing rate, but you can take it as many times as you like so even the worst drivers eventually jump through the hoop. So basically the process you imagined but with more time and hoops where the government gets to charge you $$.
guerrilla 3y ago
That can't be fixed unless it's possible to live without a car in the US which is bery far from the case.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Tade0 3y ago
I'd rather everyone adopt the German system and have public transport as an alternative for those who can't pass the test. Over here, across your eastern border, there's been a huge increase in the number of people on the road and it's becoming increasingly obvious that some people are better off taking the bus/train. Problem is, trains/buses are disappearing, so especially elderly people are either stuck at home or have to get behind the wheel, to mixed results.
- jansan 3y ago
  Do people in Poland still drive at the very right side so others can overtake even if there is oncomin traffic? I could not believe it when I saw that (maybe twenty years ago).
  - Symbiote 3y ago
    There was an official design of road in England when I was a child: three painted lanes. The middle lane could be used for overtaking by traffic going in either direction. I hated when my dad would overtake using this lane. I could see from the way he was concentrating and pushing the car to its limit that it wasn't a comfortable manoeuvre, and it generally seemed rather pointless as we'd soon be stuck behind a line of vehicles that was too long to overtake. It looks like they've all been removed, even the tiny bits this page says still exist: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=S3 https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=S3
  - Tade0 3y ago
    That practice fortunately fell out of fashion with the advent of proper infrastructure - instances of this are now rare because other drivers usually don't know what's going on, so they don't move to their right. Two or more cars overtaking at the same time is still a thing though. That being said it's still part of local "car body language" that you move to the right if you want someone to pass you. Using your right indicator in turn says "I am going to make a sharp turn to the right now", so you'll have people behind you hitting their breaks if you do it. I occasionally use that to stop people from tailgating me.
  - 3y ago
carlosjobim 3y ago
The price and inconvenience of getting a drivers license is hardly a measure of how skilled as safe drivers a people is. I would be surprised if there hasn't been any research where they pit drivers from different nationalities against each other to see ground truth.
rahimnathwani 3y ago
I have taken and passed driving tests in the UK (in London) and California (in San Francisco). Both the theory test and the road test were far easier in California. There were no challenging road situations, and this was in a 'city'. I'm sure in rural areas it's even easier. Regarding required lessons, in California this differs by age. If you're under a certain age, you need to complete a certain number of lessons before you can take a test. If you're older, you don't.

by jansan 3y ago

theshrike79 3y ago

From movies I've learned that Americans get their licenses in high-school by a teacher who just gives them the license so they don't need to sit through another crappy attempt at the course they built in the parking lot with traffic cones. Dunno how it works for real, but can't be much different =)

vanilla_nut 3y ago
Most states have something like this: - at ~16, you become eligible for a driving permit which allows for supervised driving only - getting the permit requires you to "pass" a pathetic 10ish question exam for which the literal questions and (multiple choice) answers are publicly available - after 6-12 months (again, variable) you become eligible to get your full license - to get a license, you usually need a guardian or affiliated adult to sign a form saying they taught you for over 40 hours of supervised driving. - sometimes you also need a "safety class" or possible a "driver's education" class. Driver's education can be useful, since it's literally just a teacher riding around in a car driven by students and pointing out where the students go wrong. Safety classes are almost invariably useless, since they mostly just regurgitate rules of the road and obvious safety tips that most students immediately forget. - Once you become eligible for a license, you go to a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), the same place where you got your permit. Schedule an appointment, and an employee will take you for a driving test. In the driving test, you have to show your mettle at serious challenges like parallel parking a car, stopping at stop signs, looking over your shoulder while changing lanes, and looking both ways before making a turn at a stop. This basic test has a less than 50% passing rate, but you can take it as many times as you like so even the worst drivers eventually jump through the hoop. So basically the process you imagined but with more time and hoops where the government gets to charge you $$.

guerrilla 3y ago

That can't be fixed unless it's possible to live without a car in the US which is bery far from the case.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Tade0 3y ago

I'd rather everyone adopt the German system and have public transport as an alternative for those who can't pass the test. Over here, across your eastern border, there's been a huge increase in the number of people on the road and it's becoming increasingly obvious that some people are better off taking the bus/train. Problem is, trains/buses are disappearing, so especially elderly people are either stuck at home or have to get behind the wheel, to mixed results.

jansan 3y ago
Do people in Poland still drive at the very right side so others can overtake even if there is oncomin traffic? I could not believe it when I saw that (maybe twenty years ago).
- Symbiote 3y ago
  There was an official design of road in England when I was a child: three painted lanes. The middle lane could be used for overtaking by traffic going in either direction. I hated when my dad would overtake using this lane. I could see from the way he was concentrating and pushing the car to its limit that it wasn't a comfortable manoeuvre, and it generally seemed rather pointless as we'd soon be stuck behind a line of vehicles that was too long to overtake. It looks like they've all been removed, even the tiny bits this page says still exist: https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=S3 https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=S3
- Tade0 3y ago
  That practice fortunately fell out of fashion with the advent of proper infrastructure - instances of this are now rare because other drivers usually don't know what's going on, so they don't move to their right. Two or more cars overtaking at the same time is still a thing though. That being said it's still part of local "car body language" that you move to the right if you want someone to pass you. Using your right indicator in turn says "I am going to make a sharp turn to the right now", so you'll have people behind you hitting their breaks if you do it. I occasionally use that to stop people from tailgating me.
- 3y ago

carlosjobim 3y ago

The price and inconvenience of getting a drivers license is hardly a measure of how skilled as safe drivers a people is. I would be surprised if there hasn't been any research where they pit drivers from different nationalities against each other to see ground truth.

rahimnathwani 3y ago

I have taken and passed driving tests in the UK (in London) and California (in San Francisco). Both the theory test and the road test were far easier in California. There were no challenging road situations, and this was in a 'city'. I'm sure in rural areas it's even easier. Regarding required lessons, in California this differs by age. If you're under a certain age, you need to complete a certain number of lessons before you can take a test. If you're older, you don't.