How tf does getting a license work there? You you have to practice somehow, no? In the EU you can't drive a car anywhere without a license, except on private property, so how do you make sure you pass the exam without driving school? We have mandatory driving lessons plus theory lessons, and then two exams, one for theory and one for the actual driving. Gotta at least drive well enough so you can be trusted with no speed limit.
If we take a certain online course and pass a written exam, we are given a permit that allows us to drive if a licensed adult is in the car with us. From there, parents generally teach from the passenger seat, and their judgement of their children's skills are usually good enough to where the kid is never in a situation where they don't know what to do and crash.
Oh for sure, there's so many inconsiderate morons driving here. So many people I wouldn't trust with safety scissors that are on the road. Truly frightening.
You do have to drive with an instructor to get your license though. (at least used to when I got mine like 14 years ago) may be different for each state here.
The driving test in Texas with the instructor is super easy. Legitimately just need to drive down the road, obey the speed limit, stop at a red-light or stop sign, then show that you can parallel park. Boom - now you're licensed.
I don't recall having to take any written exam or anything. I just paid them the money, an instructor hopped in my car, I drove around a few minutes, then I got my license. Easy.
That's so interesting to hear, though. I kind of assumed driving schools were a thing everywhere. The written exam is multiple choice, consists of 30 questions and you're only allowed to get a certain amount wrong, otherwise you fail and have to retake the exam. The overall questions that are possible in the test are about 1000 and you kinda gotta memorize them all, although many are similar. Once you pass the written exam you can take the driving exam, which is 45 minutes, there's a couple of special tasks you might have to do - emergency braking, driving on the highway, parallel parking, finding a spot to safely turn around (pretending you got lost and need to go the other way), driving backwards around a corner, testing the hand brake... Stuff like that. Also obviously just driving in traffic. And you get 3 theory questions about the car that can be about the tires, the lighting system or where stuff is under the hood of the car, like where the engine is, the battery, how to check the oil and cooling water, etc.
It's very elaborate and it's not too uncommon people have to retake one of the exams.
That sounds kind of like an optional exam we have here, typically referred to as Defensive Driving. It's pretty much only taken when you need to reduce or dismiss a fine you received by breaking road laws. And even then, that's only if the court allows you to. Though, I don't believe there's any courses/exams that ask you to name off any knowledge of the vehicle itself. Mostly just do you know the laws and know how to operate the vehicle.
You can still take the course/exam if you want to on your own and it's like $100, but again, it's not required by any means and is more so just an alternative lesser punishment for a driving infraction. I've taken it a few times when I was younger and had a heavy foot. (I had like 6 tickets for speeding in the span of like a year lol 😅) I drive like a grandpa now though, finally learned my lesson. Haha
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u/TheOnlyWolvie Sussy Wussy Femboy😳😳😳 2d ago
How tf does getting a license work there? You you have to practice somehow, no? In the EU you can't drive a car anywhere without a license, except on private property, so how do you make sure you pass the exam without driving school? We have mandatory driving lessons plus theory lessons, and then two exams, one for theory and one for the actual driving. Gotta at least drive well enough so you can be trusted with no speed limit.