I Passed The Written Exam!

[J N Winkler]

Although...in this country, you have an easier time getting a license than getting inside an office building.  Show up, correctly answer 80% or so of the questions poised at you, and don't hit anything during your driver's test, and you have a license for life!

Then move to Europe and simply exchange your American DL for a European one.

I don't think it's that simple.

A friend of mine transferred to Scotland for business, and decided to stay.  Not only could she not do what you said, but she even failed her first driver's test after driving for 20 years.

It absolutely is that simple if the two jurisdictions have an exchange agreement that allows the US license to be accepted in lieu of passes on both the written and the driving tests.  Many US states (including Kansas) have such agreements with Germany owing indirectly to the US military presence.  Other states have agreements that allow their licenses to be accepted in lieu of the written and not the driving test.

GB and NI do not, AFAIK, have exchange agreements with any US states or Canadian provinces, though they do with New Zealand and Australia.  As a result, any American wishing to get a British driving license usually has to go through the whole process with theory test and driving test at minimum (I think a separate hazard perception test has been added in the last twenty-odd years; motorcyclists also have to take a separate CBT test).  One exception comes into play if the American already has a license from another EU/EEA member state, since those are exchangeable.  (This will likely change if and when Brexit goes through.)

The disadvantage of obtaining a driving license through exchange is that residency requirements must be satisfied and the exchanged license is returned to the issuing jurisdiction for voiding.

It is normal, even routine, for experienced drivers to fail difficult driving tests, because what makes them difficult is not the complexity of the maneuvers required so much as aggressive checking of technical compliance.  You hear stories of being failed for not being seen to look in the inside rearview mirror every 20 seconds, for example.  It is not uncommon for British drivers to pass the GB driving test first time and then move to California and fail the test there because they omit something the California examiners check for.

[vdeane]

Missouri's test involves answering 25 questions with a minimum five incorrect (I got 23 of 25 when I took it, passed first time).

Interesting.  A test where you need to get at least 5 answers wrong in order to pass.  I don't think I've ever seen that before... but then, how did you pass with 23/25?

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

Missouri's test involves answering 25 questions with a minimum five incorrect (I got 23 of 25 when I took it, passed first time).

Interesting.  A test where you need to get at least 5 answers wrong in order to pass.  I don't think I've ever seen that before... but then, how did you pass with 23/25?

It's the same minimum in Arkansas.

[vdeane]

Missouri's test involves answering 25 questions with a minimum five incorrect (I got 23 of 25 when I took it, passed first time).

Interesting.  A test where you need to get at least 5 answers wrong in order to pass.  I don't think I've ever seen that before... but then, how did you pass with 23/25?

It's the same minimum in Arkansas.

I guess the smiley didn't convey the intended meaning.  I was trying to find a clever way to point out the difference between minimum and maximum.  A minimum of 5 wrong on a 25 question test means the same thing as a maximum of 20 right, which means that ozarkman417 shouldn't have passed his test if he got 23 out of 25 right and he needed "5 minimum" wrong.

[kphoger]

Although...in this country, you have an easier time getting a license than getting inside an office building.  Show up, correctly answer 80% or so of the questions poised at you, and don't hit anything during your driver's test, and you have a license for life!

Then move to Europe and simply exchange your American DL for a European one.

I don't think it's that simple.

A friend of mine transferred to Scotland for business, and decided to stay.  Not only could she not do what you said, but she even failed her first driver's test after driving for 20 years.

It absolutely is that simple if the two jurisdictions have an exchange agreement that allows the US license to be accepted in lieu of passes on both the written and the driving tests.  Many US states (including Kansas) have such agreements with Germany owing indirectly to the US military presence.  Other states have agreements that allow their licenses to be accepted in lieu of the written and not the driving test.

Exactly.  I took driver's ed class at my high school during summer break.  It was a town of 1300 people, and the nearest stoplight was 29 miles away.  For our "city driving" portion, we drove an hour to a town in another state–population approximately 8000.  We were not required to take a road test in order to obtain a driver's license because the DMV accepted our school's proof of driver's ed completion in lieu of that.  In my class were foreign exchange students from, for example, Germany.  My family kept in touch with those students after their return to Europe, even visited their families a year or two later.  So I can tell you that, yes:  these youth took driver's ed in farm country, then obtained a Kansas driver's license with only the written test, then returned to Europe and exchanged it for a European license.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

I went by ASP Troop H in Fort Smith and recieved my permit (at the date of posting)! Expect an update with my Class D!

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

As of 11/20/2020 I have passed my skills test and got my license!

Although the test was rather lackluster, while I was in Omaha, I took some defensive driving lessons; I want to think of this as a license to learn and gain knowledge and further expirence as a new driver. Though I worry for the people who haven't taken some sort of course in combination with Arkansas' easy mode skills test.

I wanted to show compitancy at an intersection or lane changing, but alas we did not...