Driving Tests in Other Countries?

Question

I was wondering how does the rest of the world test peoples driving? I know what its like in the UK, but what about the rest of the world?

It has been said that In the UK we have the hardest Driving tests in the World, with something approaching a 77% failure rate (all be it it doesn't stop some people)

Answer 1

I work in a multi-nationality workplace. It has been said that the test in Iraq and East Timor is a doddle compared to ours. A foreign licence is only valid for a year or so if you move to this country, so they have to take our test to carry on driving. Everyone who i have spoken to who has had to retake it has failed at least once. I think they should make it harder to pass, and maybe raise the minimum age to eighteen, twenty, or maybe even fourty to keep more drivers off the road.

I need more space. It is becoming so much harder to drive at high speed nowadays:)

According to a website i have just looked at, the approximate pass rate as around 43%

Answer 2

The last I heard, the failure rate was nearer 50%, but that might be old news.

I have no world-wide comparison, but I do have some foreign friends, qualified drivers in their own countries, who took the British test and they all assure me that our test is harder than theirs. The countries include: France, Germany, Spain and various middle-Eastern countries.

I don't think it's a coincidence that although we have some of the world's most crowded roads, we have some of the safest. Driver competence has more than any other factor to do with safety.

So long live the tough test.

Answer 3

South Africa has had, for the last dozen years, what may be the world’s most difficult driver’s license exam. It’s an exercise in extremely defensive driving. Test examiners take off points for, among other things, failure to check all mirrors every seven seconds. An applicant can fail instantly if he lets his car roll backwards even an inch when stopping or starting, or simply if his test examiner hasn’t met his daily failure quota.

Because the test is so hard, and the accompanying bureaucratic process so byzantine, that it acts as a strong disincentive for South Africans to get proper driver training. Many people simply drive without a license or buy one off the black market. So the unintended consequences of South Africa’s rigorous licensing program seem pretty plain: there is more bad driving as a result.