We just spent a week in Berlin, among other places.
And we were wondering, as we never have noticed this elsewhere:
Why so many driving schools? We saw them almost every block all over.
There were so many, this was the first word my wife copied down to plug into Google translator.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19275 posts
In Germany, due to the high speeds on the Autobahn, drivers have to learn how to actually drive, not just parallel park as in the USA. I would compare it more to the requirements for a small plane pilot's license.
Posted by
Calgary
2297 posts
Yup, driving lessons are mandatory in Germany. Everywhere, it's just coincidence that you've seen more of them in Berlin. These are the mandatory lessons, each of them 90 minutes long:
5 x overland
4 x Autobahn
3 x in darkness
On top of that you'd want to add some voluntary lessons to practice driving inner city, parking etc. Most people will end up with 20 lessons or more before they attempt their first exam. In addition, there are 14 hrs of mandatory theory lessons (classroom).
You can imagine that this doesn't come cheap. You'd be looking at 1000-2000 Euro to get your licence ...
Posted by
San Francisco
14980 posts
Driving school is mandatory before you can get your license. True, the cost of 1,000 to 2,000 Euro in Germany when all is said and done applies to France as well.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Wow, I've lived here for four years and I never knew that was mandatory.
I'm not saying that the US should copy everything Germany does, but that's a good one to start with, just comparing German and US (particularly east coast) driving habits. Hey Lee, maybe if it costs over $1,000 to get a license then there would be more political pressure for a better passenger rail system in the US.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9224 posts
This is why I don't have a license here and haven't driven a car in about 15 years. Once my military license expired, I wasn't able to transfer my Ohio drivers license to a German one, as they didn't have a reciprocal agreement. Some states do, some don't. I think my daughter paid about 1200 € to get her license. Makes you think more than twice, about drinking and driving too. Just as it is expensive to get a license, it is also expensive to get it back after losing it if you get caught driving drunk.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12315 posts
Reminds me of getting a Guam drivers license. That was the hardest driving test I ever took - but only the immigrants take it. The locals didn't have to (not saying they do that in Germany) and there were plenty of bad drivers on the road.
When I came back to the states, Washington State didn't recognize my Guam license so I had to start over with a written and driving test again.
I didn't realize that your license doesn't expire when you're active duty military overseas. I could have just kept my California license and traded it for a Washington license when I got back.