The level in the US is a written test on a subset of the rules, usually 6 months of mentored driving (need something like 50 hours with another licensed adult i

The level in the US is a written test on a subset of the rules, usually 6 months of mentored driving (need something like 50 hours with another licensed adult in the car), and a test that involves basically driving around the block and parallel parking. It sounds like a joke but it's true. Even most optional courses like driver's education generally don't put you on a skid pad or anything like you mention. I assume it's largely due to liability and lawyers - ironically they consider that type of training to be too dangerous even though you'll encounter more dangerous situations on the road and be unprepared for them. The best thing I have found for this type of training is autocross (tire rack presents a special defensive driver course related to some autoX clubs too). Then snow/skid pad it's just finding a deserted parking lot cover in snow and ice for some low-speed recovery practice.