OT: State of licensing in the US, How hard is it where you live? Options

[lapuwali]

Howard's thread about the consequences of not teaching teens how to drive got me wondering.

I went through the whole driver training ritual in 1980, so I have no idea what the current state of driver training is in the US. Texas (where I learned) had a pretty good program. Run in the high school, mandatory, with both driving classes, textbook classes, and an interesting interactive movie.

I'm told that most high schools don't have driver's ed anymore, due to cost-cutting. Is this true nationwide, or only here in California? Is it even true in all of California? I see "Student Driver" cars from time to time (saw one this morning), and I'm sure it's not mandatory. I presume this is strictly a private, voluntary thing?

I also know Europe is much stricter than here. I'm familiar with the UK testing system, how's the system in Germany (Andy?), or Austria (Gustl?), or the Netherlands (Yaroooon?).

Getting anyone to pay for better training in the US is probably politically impossible, though it strikes me that perhaps having the insurance companies help out here by offering a substantial discount from the usual outrageous teen driver rates for those teens who complete an accredited course sounds sensible to me.

[SirAndy]

QUOTE (lapuwali @ Jan 4 2006, 03:53 PM)

I also know Europe is much stricter than here. I'm familiar with the UK testing system, how's the system in Germany (Andy?), or Austria (Gustl?), or the Netherlands (Yaroooon?).

the system here in CA is a joke. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/icon8.gif)

i don't know about the rest of the country ...


first, they did not take my german drivers license into account.
20 years of accident free driving, gone, out the door, non-existent.
actually, that might not be a bad thing in general.
who knows what driving is like in a country like germany, compared to CA.
after all, they might still be using ox carriages!!!! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wacko.gif)


here's what i had to do to get a CA drivers license ...

1. show up with a car.
i didn't have my own car, so i just rented one from enterprise. no problem ...

2. take written test.
i didn't even bother to *practice* as i had already heard about the written test from friends. went in and filled it out.
the guy (who barely spoke english) put his little card with the markers for the right answers over my test 3 times. he obviously thought he had made a mistake.
0 (zero) errors on my written test. he was clearly flabbergasted ...

3. driving test.
this was the fun part. well, for me anyways.
the *tester* was holding on for dear life! (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)
he was scribbling down notes on his form-sheet...
after we got back to the DMV he shook my hand and congratulated me to my new CA drivers license.
one piece of advice he had, he said. i passed only by one point, barely, he concluded.
he asked me if i wanted to keep a copy of his form-sheet. as a souvenir.
turned out, i passed all test, except that next to almost each of the items, he had written "too fast!" ...

well, that's my story ...

waaaaaay too easy and cheap to get a license here, i'm afraid ...
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/driving.gif) Andy