Just a scan off a Christmas card! come on get with the programme !!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Orthonormal
[B]So everyone with more experience than 6 months is above average?

 

ursuppe, have you ever been in the states? If you have I'm sure you've seen how many incompetent drivers you can spot on the road compared to in Europe. The first time I drove a car in the US I was shocked to see how people swerved around, changing lanes all the time. If you do that on a European high-way you'll be lucky if you just get angry looks from fellow drivers, but you're most likely to cause a major accident. It's not a lot of fun doing 270 km/h when grandpa in his VW Polo decides that the fast lane would be a better place to be (been there, done that)!

We have the same drivers education in Norway as in Germany, and many people consider that test to be far too easy. So how they find the education you get in the states to be sufficient is a mystery to me. It's like they give you a license that says you know how to steer a car, and then it's up to you to decide if you really want to learn how to drive.
Do you still only learn how to drive auto-trans. equpped cars over there? If so, that also seems pretty weird, considering the amount of cars that only come with manual-transmission.

 

mmmm..... "programme!" I love British spelling, I need to move there and learn, or have some sort of guide to all the different spellings!

 

LOL.. That's how programme was spelled before YOU guys altered it!

 

Yes, one can take the dirvers exam in an automatic. From my understanding, automatics are much more pervasive in the US than in Europe. It's actually quite odd to Americans to see a large German car, say a BMW 7 series, with a manual transmission.

I spent 3 years in Germany and loved the rules of the road, particularly the way that 99% they were actually followed. They'd signal to change lanes, pass only on the left, trucks in the right lane (except to pass), etc. We have those laws here in the U.S. but they are hardly ever enforced - in fact, I bet most Americans don't even know about them. It's pretty clear to me when I see police cars making lane changes without signaling, passing on the right, etc. that theres little chance of being cited.

When I got back from Germany, it drove me mad that everyone was breaking the rules. I made it my goal to set everyone right - moving to the right after passing, and if I saw someone was going to pass me on the right - I'd move to block them and make them pass me on the left. In the end, it was a totally futile exercise and I gave up after a week. I now fit in with all the rest of my countrymen.

 

DaveZ:
Our motorways are a nightmare, purely because learner drivers aren't allowed on there, even for instruction!!! Therefore 99.9% of all people driving on there have never had any instruction at all on how to do so.

You can take the ministry driving test here for a manual gearbox and if you pass, your full licence entitles you to drive an auto. gearbox (No car... just the box!! j/k). If you take the test in an auto however, you cannot drive manual gearbox cars and have to take another test!

It amazes me that in the States, people can jump into a manual car for the first time that they've just bought at the dealership and drive away. Obviously, you CAN learn to drive a stick shift this way but surely it would be better if from the word go, your early instruction was based around a manual gearbox?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Cedric Tomkinson
[B]DaveZ:
Our motorways are a nightmare, purely because learner drivers aren't allowed on there, even for instruction!!! Therefore 99.9% of all people driving on there have never had any instruction at

 

Times must have changed! -- my first ride was a battered Renault "Doe-Phine" -- recently a Canadian firm has been retrofitting these into an all electric vehicle ..
at least somebody found a use for them ... by the way, it came with a crank in case the battery died. Cost $100.00 US.

Sign me --
An Old Fart

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Cedric Tomkinson
[B]DaveZ:
Our motorways are a nightmare, purely because learner drivers aren't allowed on there, even for instruction!!! Therefore 99.9% of all people driving on there have never had any instruction at