# Driving education



## Bahnsteig4 (Sep 9, 2005)

I find it funny that even some people from left-driving countries think they are driving on the "wrong" side..
The drive of the shuttle bus between my Christchurch NZ hotel and the airport asked us how we liked driving on the "wrong side".. :lol:

Fortunately traffic in NZ is so rare that we could even drive on the right side for about ten km on the Southern Isle before actually noticing our mistake... 

After all, the right side is the right side.


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## wyqtor (Jan 15, 2007)

Chris1491 said:


> Train prices differs between € 70 cheap and € 279 expensive.
> 
> Trucks are paying € 400.


My, that's a lot of money! The most we had to pay to cross a tunnel was €30 at the Mont Blanc tunnel (in a regular car, of course). And that is already very expensive for me. But 70... Still I understand that those tunnels require a lot of maintenance, I'd rather pay then die in a fire inside the tunnel.


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## Mateusz (Feb 14, 2007)

How many fo you drive ?

How looks preparation of people to art of driving ? Are exams too hard etc. 

Let's discuss ! :banana:


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## keber (Nov 8, 2006)

Theory exams were very easy for me, but some had great difficulties.
I had 25 hours of practice driving. Final exam drive was pretty difficult for me, but luckily exam-person was in good mood.


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

I got my license pretty quick, only 2 mistakes (out of 5 allowed) on the theory exam, and 24 hours of practice driving, got it all in one try. My ex-girlfriend required 90 lessons


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## Mateusz (Feb 14, 2007)

Women and driving...

(sexism)


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## BND (May 31, 2007)

Here in Hungary the system is the following:

First you have to take part on 28 theory lessons, then you can take the theory exam. There are 55 questions, and you have 55 minutes. When I did it (in 2004) it was paper based, but a few years ago a computer system was introduced. You can have 10 wrong answers here.

Then you have to learn to handle the car, in 9 lessons (it can be more of course). This is followed by an exam. If you have passed, you can go out to the streets. There are 20 lessons (at least), out of witch 14 in the city, 4 outside the city and 2 at night. Then you can go to the final traffic exam. Meanwhile you also have to pass a First Aid exam. If you have all of this, you can get your driving licence.

Unfortunately bribe is popular, and many unable people can get a driving licence hno:

I've passed the theory for the 2nd time, and for the first time the rest, and I've learnt to drive on an Opel Omega Caravan 2.5 TD, a pretty big car to practice parking


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

It's a bit different in the Netherlands, when I signed up for drivers ed, you could immediatly take driving lessons when you turn 18. However, before the practice exam, you need to get the theory exam. I believe there were 50 questions, and at least 44 need to be answered right. Then, you can sign up for practice exam, which costs about € 180. The practice exam is usually taken after at least 20 lessons, but 40 is the average (lessons of 45 or 60 minutes). They're pretty expensive at € 35 - 40 per lesson, which means the total for lessons is easily € 1.000 - € 1.500, add some other stuff to that (theory + exam, practice exam + adminstrative cost to get the actual license etc.), and you're usually out € 1.500 - 2.000 when you get your drivers license. 

So it's rather expensive, and many students opt to get their license after their college ended (when the free public transport ends too)


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

BND said:


> I've passed the theory for the 2nd time, and for the first time the rest, and I've learnt to drive on an Opel Omega Caravan 2.5 TD, a pretty big car to practice parking


I've passed the theory without error,but failed the first traffic(in a junction,I didnt notice a god damn Suzuki,and almost killed all 3 of us).The second time,after 10 more hours of driving,it went smoothly. Learned driving on a Nissan Micra.I choose it because I had access to an Almera at home(which I drive since then).


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

> Learned driving on a Nissan Micra


Hmm, they're usually a bit bigger in the Netherlands. I learned to drive in a Peugeot 307 SW.


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## RawLee (Jul 9, 2007)

ChrisZwolle said:


> Hmm, they're usually a bit bigger in the Netherlands. I learned to drive in a Peugeot 307 SW.


Well,there were a lot of cars to choose from,but I choose because of the type.


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

In the US, it depends on the state but its very easy to get one. For MD:
http://baltimore.about.com/od/transportation/ht/howtolicense.htm


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## gramercy (Dec 25, 2008)

I think its safe to say that nobody can _drive_ after having their license issued.

That comes probably 10.000 kms later


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## gramercy (Dec 25, 2008)

I learned on a Citroen C3 diesel, white. WHITE!


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

I've heard you're fully experienced after 100,000 kilometers in all conditions, in various countries. I have clinched that within 2.5 years


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## gramercy (Dec 25, 2008)

100.000 kms huh? 

now we know why lil' old ladies and [email protected] who drive 3000 kms / year TOPS cant drive :haw haw:


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## Jeroen669 (Nov 29, 2006)

ChrisZwolle said:


> I've heard you're fully experienced after 100,000 kilometers in all conditions, in various countries.


Imo that's not a honest way to measure driving experience. Someone who drives a lot in cities won't make kms that fast, but he'll definately get more driving experience than someone who makes the same amount of kms but 99% on motorways.


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## keber (Nov 8, 2006)

Jeroen669 said:


> Imo that's not a honest way to measure driving experience. Someone who drives a lot in cities won't make kms that fast, but he'll definately get more driving experience than someone who makes the same amount of kms but 99% on motorways.


Don't agree. Diversity is very important. More is better. Someone, who drives solely in city, is by my experience very bad driver, especially when it drives outside city.


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## Need4Weed (Aug 6, 2008)

I obtained my driving license in 1999. We had to take 40 driving lessons, and there were no theory lessons. I took a written exam (easy), and the driving exam, which consisted of two parts, driving on the range, and "real" driving. That I failed three times, since one can fail for every single mistake, at the cop's discretion. So, the process of obtaining a DL in Serbia is a bitch. The car I used to learn to drive was Zastava 101, now if someone can learn to drive THAT (no, it's not a car IMHO), everything else is a piece of cake. :nuts:


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## wdw35 (Dec 12, 2008)

edit


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## Majestic (Jan 22, 2007)

...and how to drive a camper car.


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## I-275westcoastfl (Feb 15, 2005)

The same could be done in India, it's so funny how this stupidity makes driving a lot worse for the drivers.


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## Substructure (Sep 10, 2004)

Jokes aside though, if you were hired by such a city as a traffic consultant to (help) ease the traffic, what would you begin with ?
Fines are obviously not enough as you can't fine everybody.
I guess I would start by expending the public transit network, even though there's already a subway, tram and bus network, so the core problem of the traffic really is incivility.

Any Dutch or Japanese way of solving traffic problems ?


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## Glodenox (Mar 26, 2007)

What about putting a police agent (and some helpers for each direction perhaps) on those junctions? By letting them make the traffic flow like the traffic lights would, people may quickly realise it'll all go a lot faster if they clear the road for others to pass?

Won't be easy and will only work if they actually care about what a police officer commands to someone who's in a car. I don't know whether or not this is the case in Cairo.

Greetings,
Glodenox


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

I've seen videos of such cities with brutal traffic offenses, with police just sitting on the side of the road and doing absolutely nothing.

I think these problems are because of various factors

=> lack of drivers ed
=> lack of traffic lights, and other means to control traffic
=> local driving mentality
=> lack of enforcement
=> pedestrians all over what should be roads for motor traffic only
=> undermotorized and unmotorized traffic on the roads

And then combine these together = traffic chaos.


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## stoian (Sep 24, 2009)

*Which is your driving category?*

Just a thread for fun.
I have "B" and "M" but i want to get more. :nuts:


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

What the hell are you talking about? :dontknow:


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## stoian (Sep 24, 2009)

Don't you have a driving license,men? :banana::lol:


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Oh I didn't know you meant the license.

I have B only. (car)


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## shpirtkosova (Jun 7, 2009)

I have B and B1.


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## Xmaster (Aug 11, 2008)

B here. It would be better to do survey I think - not to reply and write own cdriving category


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## tampasteve (Aug 8, 2007)

I assume that these are European designations. In the USA it is separated as "endorsements". They likely differ by state. In Florida:

*Commercial Driver Licenses (CDL)*

CLASS A: Trucks or truck combination weighing with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of 26,001 lbs. or more, provided towed vehicle is more than 10,000 lbs.

CLASS B: Straight trucks weighing 26,001 lbs. Gross Vehicle Weight Rating or more.

CLASS C: Vehicles transporting placardable amounts of hazardous materials, or vehicles designed to transport more than 15 persons including the driver with a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of less than 26,001 lbs.



*Non Commercial Driver Licenses* - this is what most people would have.

CLASS E: Any non-commercial motor vehicles with Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) less than 26,001 pounds, including passenger cars, 15 passenger vans including the driver, trucks or recreational vehicles and two or three wheel motor vehicles 50 cc or less, such as mopeds or small scooters. (see below). Farmers and drivers of authorized emergency vehicles who are exempt from obtaining a commercial driver license must obtain a Class E license.


*Motorcycles*

For those authorized to operate motorcycle, the following abbreviation will appear on the front of the driver license under the expiration date: MOTORCYCLE ALSO or MOTORCYCLE ONLY 


I have a Class E.

Steve


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## RipleyLV (Jun 4, 2008)

I have BC1.


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## Jeroen669 (Nov 29, 2006)

tampasteve said:


> I assume that these are European designations.


In europe (can be some little difference between countries) it's generally like this:

A = motorcycle
B = car, or any vehicle on 3 or more wheels up to 3,5 tonnes and up to 9 people (driver included), this counts for most people
BE = car + trailer, max 3,5+3,5 tonnes
C = truck out of one piece (anything above 3,5 tonnes, in holland you need a extra drivers certificate above 7,5 tonnes, though)
CE = truck out of 2 or more pieces
D = bus (transportation of more than 8 people)
DE = bus + trailer


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## Perennial Quest (May 24, 2007)

I have A and B


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## Timon91 (Feb 9, 2008)

ehm....I haven't got any


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## PLH (Mar 9, 2007)

Haven't you started yet?


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## Timon91 (Feb 9, 2008)

Nope, I'm 17. I can start with theory, but I prefer to do it all in one go. And when I have more time, I'm fairly (very) busy now :nuts:


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## ChrisZwolle (May 7, 2006)

Jeroen669 said:


> C = truck out of one piece (anything above 3,5 tonnes, in holland you need a extra drivers certificate above 7,5 tonnes, though)
> CE = truck out of 2 or more pieces


1) box truck
2) semi-trailer truck, articulated, tractor-trailer


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## Verso (Jun 5, 2006)

B



edit: I had to write at least 2 characters. :lol:


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