Well, yesterday I succefully past my exam for my provisional license (44/50)

So today my dad took me for a drive in our Peugeot Bipper van. It was really different than I expected. I guess it's the bad habbit being used to LFS and just floor it...
The pedals and steering where really sensitive with every movement u made.
Atleast I never stalled it, but sometimes was to fast (as getting quickly to the speedlimit wich wasn't intended)
I also got the firedepartment behind me INFRONT of a roundabout, boy did I got nervous . But also at this point I realised what idiot Belgian drivers are. No patience, getting stressed very quick etc.. but I just stayed calm and kept my speedo in sight

I hope for more driving as I got really relaxed doing it..

Greetz,
Kevin

You got a G25?

So you're allowed to drive if your dad sits beside you? I hope so, illegal practising on public roads is a no-go. I know everyone does it at some point, but only somewhere you don't interfere with traffic (there are a couple of paved farm tracks around a golf course near my town where a lot of people try it for teh first time)

Quote from ACCAkut :

So you're allowed to drive if your dad sits beside you? I hope so, illegal practising on public roads is a no-go. I know everyone does it at some point, but only somewhere you don't interfere with traffic (there are a couple of paved farm tracks around a golf course near my town where a lot of people try it for teh first time)

I know from experience, the whole "practice with someone beside you" does work a bit. For example;

In BC, the way our licencing goes is:

Theory test, and on passing you advance to...

1 year of an "L"(Learners) state, where you are allowed 1 passenger + 1 supervisor (age 25+, holds valid drivers licence.) and cannot drive from Midnight to 5 AM. Also must display a magnetic, reflective red L sign from the rear of vehicle.

After the L state, you take your first practical exam, which after passing you...

Have an "N" (Novice) licence for 5 years where you are allowed to have family members + 1 non-family member (and the ability to drive alone). The exception to this is if you have a valid family supervisor in the vehicle with you (25+, valid licence, and family member), then you are allowed as many people as your car can legally handle. You are required to display a magnetic, reflective green L sign from the rear of your vehicle during this stage.

After that, you take another Practical exam, which you are then awarded your full, class 5 licence, which holds no restrictions on passengers or hours nor do you haffto display any letter on your vehicle.

I'm within the first 2 months of my "Novice" stage licence.

Anyone else care to share how their land does licences?

Well the way it goes here is like dawesdust's "L"

After you pass the theory you get an L sticker/plate.
You put it up on your rear window and your dad or anyone who holds it's license longer then 8 year and had no accident during those years can teach you to drive.
I deffo don't do any illegal stuff!!! I also would never do that as I am scared that they will catch me

This license is valid for 36 months and from my 18th i can do my practical exam so i can achive my full license

Everything is done legal

It's been 20+ years......

Back then in my state, you turned 16*, you took a written exam to obtain a learner's permit. It was stupidly easy on road rules and signage. You did not have to post anything on your car, you had a permit in your pocket.

You are allowed to drive with a licensed driver age 21 or over. You can drive as much or as little as you want.

You take a driving test to obtain a license, otherwise called a "Cinderella license" around here because you are not allowed to drive between midnight and 5 am (maybe 6 am). I said above you can drive as much or as little as you want because once passing the written test, you can take the driving test any time you want. The next day if it suits you.

When you turn 18, your "Cinderella license" expires and you have complete free will.

* If you could push your mother's car out of the driveway and down the road before starting it when they are asleep, you could drive when you were 14

14 is just to young...

Here, when you turn 18, you need to have a specific amount of theory lessons at a driving school, then do your theoretical test. If you pass, you need another specific amount of practical classes, at the driving school, then you do your practical exam. If you pass, you have a full license, with the restriction that it becomes void if you have a number of infractions within the first 2 years.

Quote from Scrabby :

14 is just to young...

not really i'm 14 and i'm learning to drive with my dad on back roads where there are no other cars.
i started driving when i was 5( when my dad backed up out of our garage i would sit on his lap and turn the wheel)

Quote from ferrarifan777 :

i started driving when i was 5( when my dad backed up out of our garage i would sit on his lap and turn the wheel)

Ahhh, the memories

Used to do the same thing

You need to be insured on the car you're learning on (though that might be a UK only thing), but I would never learn from a relative nor would I teach a relative. You are only passing on bad habits and the learner is more likely to learn shit all from the experience, according to The AA you should do 2 hours private for every 1 hour with an instructor and according to my old man you should do 1 hour with an instructor for every year old you are.

But driving is piss easy, just don't crash or you will never be able to afford insurance.

Here you need to be 16 to have your Learner's permit (I'm not sure... never had one of those) and when you turn 18 you get your driving license. You need to pass the theory test and the driving test to get your license (Here in Jalisco), in some other states you just need to pass the theory one.

Lets not talk about the other ways...

Over here you can take driving lessons (at about 40 euros an hour, depending on where you live) from the day you turn 18. You need a minimum amount of 20 hours (I think) and have passed a written exam to take a practical exam. This practical exam (nowadays) consists of 2 parts:
Independent driving skills. You get a destination, and you need to drive there without incident or error.
Special manouvres. You need to parallelpark, narrow street U-turn, or back the car up around a corner.

You can take the Special manouvres exam before your practical exam if you wish.

After that you get a 'points' license. You have 3 points, and for every major infraction for which you are stopped by the police you're deducted 1 point. No points left = no more license.

After 5 years the points license is replaced with a permanent license.

Oh yeah, you can only take a practical exam in the city you live in (or near).

Finland owns at this department, because we are teached to drift on snow.

Well not actually, but one part of getting the part time license and then later the full time license are two courses of driving in slippery conditions.

The whole time I've spent in drive school was very boring, but I recall having a bit fun going ~80 km/h, in second gear revs at 6k and drifting thru a right hander, then tight braking for tighter left hander and then avoiding all the cones while at the same time going very wide. Even the teacher smiled.
He also admitted that my RWD car seems to be a lot better at the slalom course than the usual FWD ones, because it "turns nicely". Tho we both admired how the AWD Audi handled.

Quote from TagForce :

Over here you can take driving lessons (at about 40 euros an hour, depending on where you live) from the day you turn 18. You need a minimum amount of 20 hours (I think) and have passed a written exam to take a practical exam. This practical exam (nowadays) consists of 2 parts:
Independent driving skills. You get a destination, and you need to drive there without incident or error.
Special manouvres. You need to parallelpark, narrow street U-turn, or back the car up around a corner.

You can take the Special manouvres exam before your practical exam if you wish.

After that you get a 'points' license. You have 3 points, and for every major infraction for which you are stopped by the police you're deducted 1 point. No points left = no more license.

After 5 years the points license is replaced with a permanent license.

Oh yeah, you can only take a practical exam in the city you live in (or near).

This man speaks the truth. However, there is no such thing as a minimum amount of lessons. A friend of mine only took 18 lessons (1 hour each) before he took his exam. I needed just a few more.

Quote from hrtburnout :

This man speaks the truth. However, there is no such thing as a minimum amount of lessons. A friend of mine only took 18 lessons (1 hour each) before he took his exam. I needed just a few more.

I've taken 0 lessons, being only taught by my parents. Here there used to be a rule where if you did take lessons your L stage was cut down to 6 months, but that was eliminated after too many people got their licence, then were dumb and went and killed themselves.

Here, in Latvia, you can get your Learners license from 16. You don't need to know any road rules, etc etc, just go to Road Traffic Safety Direction and take that license. On your car need to be a sticker, which looks like triangle with ''M'' letter in it (M is the first letter or ''Mācību'' which means Learner, in latvian language). And you can drive only with someone which have got license already 2 or 3 years (don't remember). You can drive as much you want, carry as much passengers as you want, drive in night, etc. And.. for all things you do, responsible is that who watches you (as I said he/she which got license already 2 or 3 years), for example, if you are speeding, and cops stop you, you don't get fine - that who watches your driving got it, because, he is responsible for all your actions.

So, when you are about 17,5 years old, it's time for driving school (because all that process is about 2 - 3 months long, some guys can do all driving school thing in 1 month). There you are learning some theory and driving. Actually, you can not to go to theory lessons, because in theory test which you pass, are 30 easy questions and it's possible to make 3 mistakes. About driving lessons - our Road Traffic Safety Direction has prescribed that you need 14 hours of driving before you can go to driving test. But.. if your driving instructor see's that you are good driver, he can drive with you only 5 or 10 hours, and write in driving school passport that you drove 14 hours.
Driving test starts with a 5 minutes long test drive, then we go and do two Special manouvres (computer choose them before your test). For example, I got parallelpark and starting to drive on elevated road. If you do these manouvres correct, it's time to driving on streets. Maximal driving time is 1 hour. I drove about 15 - 20 minutes, and about half of that time was sitting in traffic-jam.
So, and if you passed both tests, you can go and take out your license. There are no restrictions anymore. For example, about 8 years ago, all who got they license, first year can only drive not faster than 80 km/h, etc.

Quote from dawesdust_12 :

I know from experience, the whole "practice with someone beside you" does work a bit. For example;

In BC, the way our licencing goes is:

Theory test, and on passing you advance to...

1 year of an "L"(Learners) state, where you are allowed 1 passenger + 1 supervisor (age 25+, holds valid drivers licence.) and cannot drive from Midnight to 5 AM. Also must display a magnetic, reflective red L sign from the rear of vehicle.

After the L state, you take your first practical exam, which after passing you...

Have an "N" (Novice) licence for 5 years where you are allowed to have family members + 1 non-family member (and the ability to drive alone). The exception to this is if you have a valid family supervisor in the vehicle with you (25+, valid licence, and family member), then you are allowed as many people as your car can legally handle. You are required to display a magnetic, reflective green L sign from the rear of your vehicle during this stage.

After that, you take another Practical exam, which you are then awarded your full, class 5 licence, which holds no restrictions on passengers or hours nor do you haffto display any letter on your vehicle.

I'm within the first 2 months of my "Novice" stage licence.

Anyone else care to share how their land does licences?

Is it just me or have BC blatantly taken their learner licensing system from LFS cruise servers?

Over here you do a theory test (35/40 minimum), then apply for a learner permit, then you can only drive accompanied by someone who has held a full license for 2+ years. After 6 months, you can sit a practical and another theory, which, if you pass, gives you a full unrestricted license. Only problem is, waiting lists for this are minimum 10 weeks. They used to be well over 10 months, but there was no accompanying rule back then, so there was pretty much no difference between a provisional and full license

I'm currently waiting for a date for my practical, I got one a week ago but had to cancel, so waiting again

As for the lessons, it's recommended over here to get at least 2 or 3. Some people need more, but the test is very stringent and pedantic, so some professional preparation is advised. I've had 3, and I'm going for one more when I get my test date

In the UK:

You buy a provisional (£50) - you are allowed to drive any car as long as you've got someone over 21 who's held a UK license for over 3 years in the car. You aren't allowed on motorways and have to have an L plate on the front.

You take a theory test (not linked with School at all), which costs another £50 ish, you are tested on your knowledge of road rules and your reaction to hazards.

If you pass your theory you can then take the full test - this involves driving around a local town, doing two manoeuvres (emergency stop, bay park, turn in the road or parallel park. You are allowed to make up to 16 "minors" (minor errors such as poor indication, not checking all your mirrors etc). If you make a major you fail (major is a larger incident such as cutting across a roundabout in the wrong lane etc). Your driving for around 34 minutes iirc.

IMO the UK driving test in the UK is quite hard, which is good - but annoyingly people like my Mum did a much much easier test and WOULD fail a new driving test - yet feel they can bitch about young drivers anyway.

Passed both my theory and test first time - go me. I've got a friend who failed his test twice though...

You can have to be 15 and a bit to get a provisional, but you can't drive a car till your 17. No limits on times or passengers though.

In Ontario you can go for your written test when you turn 16, which gives you a G1. You G1 allows you to drive on any roads except freeways, and you must have a passenger with 4+ years of licensed driving experience in your passenger seat (not sure if that's 4 years from G1, or 4 years with full license). 0% BAC and you can't drive between 11pm and 5am I think. After 12 months (or 8 months if you've taken an acreddited driving school) you can go for your practical exam, which upon passing you get your G2. G2 is the same as your full license, except you must have 0% BAC. After 12 months with your G2, you can go for your final driving exam which, upon passing, awards you with your full G license.

From the time you get your G1, you have 5 years total to get your G or you have to start the entire process over again.

Interesting, here you can make a "Führerschein mit 17", its exactly like a normal licence tutoring wise, but you have to have a designated person sitting next to you, mostly the parents, till you're 18.

Full licences are only handed to under 18 year olds only in very special conditions, i know a girl who was allowed to drive alone being 16, tho only from home to her horses stables (she was in the national classical dressage (?) team iirc)

edit: German tests are quite extensive I think, a 10 minute theory test and later a ~20 minute driving test, with a TÜV guide driving onboard, and you never quite know where he will lead you I had to park two times, find a place to turn the car around, tell him how to do several things in the car ("What if your windows are steamed up? How to check the oil? What means this light?") I passed the driving first try, but theory on 2nd

Quote from Jakg :

You can have to be 15 and a bit to get a provisional, but you can't drive a car till your 17. No limits on times or passengers though.

16 and a bit for provisional no?

Anyway I've had a few lessons now, and I can drive around fairly nicely without being yelled at by my instructor for nearly hitting something

I now rarely stall [thank goodness] and I'm now onto reversing around a corner. Win.

Theory exams: 15€
Provisional License (after passing): 9€

Quote from Scrabby :

Theory exams: 15€
Provisional License (after passing): 9€

Woah...

Theory Exam - €30
Medical - €30
Eye Test - €40
Provisional - €10
Practical Test - €75
Lessons - €~100, optional though...

Definitely worth it though

you won't get everything under 400€ here today