American Reacts to Why Driving in Europe is BETTER than America
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2022
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Hi. Germany here. "Autobahn" is just the german word for highway. It looks exactly like the highway from the netherlands you saw here. Everything he said for the netherlands is the same for the german highway system. We also do have speed limits, we also have the speed cameras and we also stick to driving on the right/passing on the left. In addition we also have cameras that measure the distance between cars because you can also get a ticket for sticking to close. The only real difference is that for ~57% of our highways you don´t have a speedlimit but just the general recommendation of 130 km/h (80mph) but it is not obligatory. He mentioned that you can drive 10 km/h faster everywhere without the speed camera reacting. That is because your car already shows you ~7 km/h more than you are actually driving and the speed cameras have a tolerance of 3 km/h. That is also why in the city people tend to drive 60 km/h on the speedometer when you are only supposed to drive 50. BUT!: The slower the car goes the more accurate your speedometer is. So if you drive around an area where the limit is 30 km/h and you know of a speed camera then stick to 35 km/h instead of 40 or else it might react. You will find speed cameras all over the place. We have stationary ones, mobile ones and only in rare occasions you might see a police control with a laser pistole. The last one only happens on country roads.
Yeah the speedometer error is programmed by the manufacturer so you got a tolerance of error to compensate for a bit different tire diameters, etc. Its a combination of fixed number error and a percentage, often something like +5km/h and then 5-6% of total speed on top of that.
The German highway is mostly concrete.
The Dutch highway is zoab that's an open asfalt this reduces the spray whit 70% en reduces the noise whit 40 % because of the negative road surface.
@@markknoop6283 I never heard of that so I looked it up. Indeed we don´t use zoab but it already gets tested in a few places. Main problem seems to be that it is more expensive and you have to renew it every 6-8 years. So for Germany that doesn´t make a lot of sense right now. Therefore they try to improve the longevity first.
Aussie. We have indented highways, you don't even need to steer! All we did was drive semis over them a bunch of times.
@@davidkendal1361 We have those too in The Netherlands, but we maintain / renew our roads, i.e. relayer them at least once every 10 year on busy roads (which is about everywhere). Annoying AF at higher speeds 😇
The USA always talks about freedom. Which is a great concept. But that freedom also extends to being free to be an idiot. Having tight regulations on things like road rules can actually allow for better results that allowing everybody to go free range.
This concept also applies to socialised medicine, free education etc. Yes it’s controlled by the government but it’s something people vote for.
Well yes, i mean your freedom ends where someone else's ends, so according to that concept you're right. But also i think we should keep an eye on how much additional power we give to our governments. When they have too much power, not good things tend to happen (communist, nazis, fascists ...).
@@SkyrimCZtutorials Totally agree. The answer to me isn’t have less government like the right in the USA argue, the answer is have robust checks and balances and a well regulated government. Without that you will have dictators and the power hungry take control .
i have the freedom to punch the air. if my fist lands on your face, it’s your fault.
@@SkyrimCZtutorials That´s more an issue of lack of liability. The more power you wield, through work or public office, the more restraint needs to be applied, both an individual and on a society level. Abuse of power should be punished harshly.
Well Europe obviously has the right to be idiots as well, you brought up socialized Healthcare and free education being just some of the examples lol
A 15 years old kid driving on the road, trained by his parents? Just the thought scares me. Driving is a serious thing and should be done by responsible adults.
Have you taught someone to drive using YOUR car? Trust me, American parents practically have a coronary event when their kids get old enough to learn to drive. Americans might prefer sending their kid to a professional driving school rather than risk their own automobile.
I'm a Brit in Texas, and when I did my driving test I was surprised how easy and short it was - I had to get onto a main road, drive past a couple of traffic lights, turn left into a residential district and back out again, then back to the test centre. That was it. And yeah, it was cheap. However, I am slowly coming to the conclusion that the American driving tests have three parts - the theory, the official test, and the police administered tests - as in, they pull you over for doing something illegal, explain how and why, and charge you $$ for the new knowledge you have gained. So all in all, American test costs (in total over the years) may come close to, or even exceed, European test costs :D
In the Netherlands it's not only common courtesy to stay right and overtake on the left, but the fine for overtaking on the right is €250,-. And there's a fine for hogging the left lane as well (€220,-).
Oh boy. Doesn't a fine over 100 euro's also automatically mean it's on you permanent record?
@@BlueUncia Traffic violations aren't on a criminal record, however you might get points docked for serious violations (DUIs).
Even when you want to drive from the highway onto a lane that splits off, like a highway exit, people dont overtake on the right even though it is allowed.
@@franzferdinand5810 Sorry to necro a bit, but In Czech republic it is a courtesy to move left if a car is moving to highway, overtake it and only then it can overtake you (even if it is a fast sports car it shouldn't overtake on the right joining lane). Not sure if it is fineable though.
Don't they also make it super difficult to be a driver in the Netherlands? With parking costs and closed off roads? To basically make life as hard as possible for drivers in favour if cyclists
The main difference for me as a Brit who lived in the states as a teen and got a US driving licence and then came back to the UK and got a UK licence, is the testing needed to get my licence.
The theory test in the US was probably 80% about what fines and penalties you would get if caught speeding, drink driving etc. basically nothing on ensuring I knew rules of the road. In the UK, it was definitely the other way around. On top of the generic theory you have a hazard perception test, which forces you to think and be aware of your surroundings (kid running in road, car pulling out of a spot etc)
For the actual driving test my US one in Massachusetts was 5 to 10 mins max. Super basic manoeuvres around a quiet block by a school. The UK one was 45 to 1hr, loads of manoeuvres on lots of different roads, some quiet roads and some busy ones in town so I demonstrated that I can drive my car safely no matter the situation.
Heh, interesting they would only familiarize you with the fines and penalties over everything else. xD
Wow, 5 to 10 min??? I didn't even go out in general traffic for the first two lessons (45min each) and in the end I had about 25 driving lessons before going to the "final exam" which was pretty strict and always involves going on and off the motorway. Then in the first two years of being a 'young driver' (In the UK you also have stricter rules for newbie drivers, right?) we have to complete a 'Safe Driving Course' which I guess is similar to yours as well (so, driving on (fake) ice, sudden obstructions on the road in form of water jets, sudden breaking (to force the ABS to engage - which actually helped me a ton when I had to do that on the actual road) and a few others.
I always knew it wasn't so hard to get a license in the US, but I didn't know it was so different than here. Haha, no wonder my little brother waited until he married and moved to Michigan xD
10 minutes? I guess the memes about Americans getting their Drivers License with a box of cereal are actually true..
@@NixHarpinger are you from Slovenia?
And a single fault on that practical test and you fail.
Rebook a new test, pay the testing center again.
I think this is definitely a major reason. I didn't even go on the highway for my (US) driver's exam. I never even put my car in reverse. The route we took was a loop so the only left turn I took was back into the parking lot (with no oncoming traffic). I got my license at 17 and even then, I was genuinely concerned and surprised at how easy it was to get a license.
In Germany we actually have a law that says you have to use the right lanes. It is called "Rechtsfahrgebot". So if the police sees you using the left or middle lane without the need to take over another car, they can fine you.
Perfect
why every german feels the need to tell what is the name of things in german? Not hating, its a real question.
@@Mipeal Maybe you want to look it up for yourself so you see it is a real thing. How are you supposed to know what to google when you don't know how it's called. How is it a german thing?
@@Mipeal Maybe because German is not widely spoken as French or English, and because it is super cool in German language that a how lot of things can be mixed into one single long word: rechts(right)fahrt(drive)gebot(obligation). I like when the Germans show it off...
@@MrAmbrosio I see it often on comments from german people. I dont see other eastern europeans or asians, for example telling how they pronounce their words for some subject. They just talk about the subject like everyone else
The phrase driving in Europe is sooo wide. Every country is different. The more south you go the more wild it gets. Nice vid, greets from Slovenia
If that's true than Belgium should be somewhere near the equator XD
@@zwenkwiel816 the level of driving skills in Belgium can be put on a very similar level as the US since they've got a similar scheme for learning how to drive (essentially any idiot with a license for a set number of years can teach someone else how to drive and then it just needs 1 or 2 more lessons with a trained instructor and you've got your license, and even those examinations can be as little as showing that you're able to drive around the block without killing anyone)... in the Netherlands, for example, only ppl with official instructors licenses are allowed to teach newbies how to drive, driving exams have a strict number of skills you need to be able to perform to a certain standard, otherwise you don't get a license... many north-west european countries have similar ways how you learn to drive...
@@kop-uv2dx mostly talking about road conditions/design.
And the more east you go, the worse the roads get.
True, I drove in Italy once, traffic laws are more like suggestions over there it seems
15:45 This is a typical rural road in The Netherlands. It's bidirectional and has painted bikelanes with a dotted line. The car is supposed to drive within the dotted lines. If there's an oncoming car, both cars can use the bikelane to let each other pass. Of course you have to check for cyclists but overall these roads aren't very busy so this works pretty fine. The speed limit is mostly 60 km/h, which seems pretty fast in comparison to a bike (about 20 km/h) but if drivers follow the rules and stay within the dotted lines it's not a big issue. I still prefer separate bikelanes, but with low demand roads this is an ok solution.
About commuting: the other day I saw a stat showing that about 2/3 of all commute is done by car in The Netherlands, so car is still used a lot here. We do have alternatives in most case, which in most North American suburbs is basically absent, but people love the "freedom" to drive a car (I love the freedom to read a book and listen to music in the train to work much more ;-) )
Those who don't follow the rules/laws of the road tend to be youngsters who just got their license and are overconfident -But as he said, most won't risk loosing the paper or having to take extra mandatory classes before they can drive again
They use red asphalt for bike paths in the Netherlands, it’s not painted red.
I would like to mention on this type of road: Hitting a car head-on? That is not likely, but even if it happens both drivers will probably walk away unharmed. If you drive on the right and you don't see a pedestrian or a bike, someone will die. This road design puts the driver in the middle of the road where you will never hit those bikes, even if they don't have working lights in the dark.
They are sometimes known as 2 in 1 road, as it is a mix of normal road and bike lane. It puts some additional awareness on the cyclist as you are the one who are supposed to yield if cars need to pass eachother and enter your bike lane (and you probably want to yield to not get hit accidentally anyway). While a driver needs to be aware of not suddenly turning into the bike lane and hitting a cyclist, especially if its a truck and the cyclist is in the blind spot.
They are also used in Denmark in low demand rural roads and I think there are plans to get some in other European Countries as well.
@@YekouriGaming how can a cyclist yield? if there's a bike, car has to slow down and drive behind the bike. Bike can't dodge unless in a ditch ;)
It's kinda weird (from my German perspective at least) that driving seems more necessary in the US, but at the same time they care less about driving skill. Seems like it would make more sense that the more important the car is in a society, the more this society should make sure that people are good at using it.
As for the road quality: What I find fascinating is that over the last few years, they got to a point where they close down one lane of the Autobahn at 8 or 9 in the evening, bring in all the gear, cut away a kilometer or so, maybe 2 (probably about a mile) of road one foot deep, bring some new asphalt, and when people start going to work at 6 in the morning, all lanes are open again, with a brand new, perfectly smooth bit in place. And if you're working a normal 9-5 job, you'll never see them do any work, you leave work, old road, go to work, bamm! brand new one.
(Portuguese here) i guess it would require too much reform for the creation of driving schools for everyone. They would also need to be driven to those classes, or they would have to get them from their homes, making the classes probably more expensive than they are in europe.
If they dont have public transport anywhere, they need to drive, so by the time they are 18 they need to be decent enough drivers(without formal training) to be able to go to where they can work thus starting at 15 and not 17. So they dont learn in a busy road but near their houses
@@Ganning19 (German here ;)) Well, getting to the practical driving lessons has never been a problem: you get picked up by the learner before you, and your first task is dropping them off.
(And because my driving instructor also did lessons for Trucks, I once picked up the Truck-driver-to-be and was driven home in a big Truck :D )
@@Garagantua Haha, really? That's cool xD I always got picked up with the tiny Yaris my instructor was using.
But yea, since driving lessons don't need to hold to some strict regime which roads to drive on, it's pretty easy to just taxi the learners during lessons.
@@NixHarpinger It was only one time, but well.. that was memorable ;). Only time I've sat in the drivers cabin.
(Also portuguese) they do make it easier maybe to make sure everyone is able to drive, if they increase the bar of entry a lot of people would be left out or take a lot of time, they need to drive to go to school sometimes. To go to work and do most of things, in europe they do let you have a mopped license at 14 but it only goes as fast as 45km/h. At 16 you can have a micro car or a 125cc bike both vehicles that reach around 100km/h.
I myself had a 125cc bike at 16 and as someone how lived in a rural area it was life changing, now living and working in Lisbon, in use public transportation much more, even having a motorbike and a car available, using the car mostly for night time when parking is free and less traffic on the road...
I'm from the Netherlands and that "odd" road has a lane on each side for bikes because we ride bikes as much as we can (there are more bikes than people in our country). If there's a person on a bike you just drive slower and go around them. If there are bikes coming from both direction you'll have to wait. Also because the road looks smaller people tend to drive slower automatically. Of course not everyone drives slower because you'll get used to it, but I believe it does help.
Yep. It's a suggested bike lane.
If it's a solid line, it's a proper bike lane and you are not allowed to go over.
When the road isn't wide enough, it is intermittent and you may use it to get out of the way of oncoming traffic.
But it is the place for bicycles to ride, when there is no seperate bike lane.
No it’s not a (suggested) bike lane. This is a general misconception! The shoulders are meant to gives an optical illusion of a narrow road and is a mental trigger for the driver to limit his
speed.
@@peli71 In this case it is a suggested bike lane. If you look carefully you can see that the shoulder of the road is red (indicating it is meant for bicycles). You can also see that at the speedbump there is a narrow path around it meant for bikes. If the shoulder is not colored red then it is an optical illusion.
@@bobvelting379 No it’s not a suggested bike lane. As I wrote earlier, it’s a common misconception.
@@peli71 then why does it look exactly like a suggested bike lane in a city or village? Why do they have a path around the narrow part and speed bump a car would never fit over and why are there pictures of bikes painted on some of these kinds of roads (not this one in particular but ones that look identical)?
You being shocked at securing what you tow is really shocking for me. In Germany I had an entire driving theoretical lesson about how you attach something to your car. I learned how to secure something like bikes.😂
In the Netherlands I had to study it for my theoretical exam. How far something could stick out, how heavy. Which license plate for which cargo bed, which lights etc.
I know right? It was literally part of the curriculum.
Reason why he's shocked at securing because most people in the US don't even secure their shit properly.
Also if you want to haul a separate trailer with car, you have to get new license in Lithuania.
15:50 A lot of europe makes their roads "fit for purpose", meaning for roads where there could be high risks of pedestrians etc. they make the road narrow and awkward for cars. Things like bi-directional roads without a centre line. Traffic calming measure like sudden narrowing, "give way to oncoming" restrictions, speed bumps and even places where the pavement comes down across the road, "signifying" the potential of pedestrians stepping out. "Table top junctions" are common here. Basically the lift the whole junction up about 8 inches, forcing everyone to drive up a ramp on the way in and down on the way out. It focuses people from all routes, even the "main flow" route on the fact it IS a junction and to slow down (or risk hitting the underside of your car nose on the ramp). All of these measures are aiming to change the focus/attitude/attention of the driver and have them adapt to the road and slow down.
Inversely, "highway" class roads are either devoid of pedestrians/cyclists entirely or they are (where possible) segregated allowing wider, faster, safety barriered through ways with higher speed limits.
In America a lot of this seems backwards and city streets are more and more often being upgraded to favour cars and deter pedestrians. The concept of "Stroads" is a good YT search.
A lot of that sounds to me more like a Netherlands thing and less of a Europe thing.
@@derPetunientopf Much of it applies to Sweden too, but I'd say the Dutch are at the very top...
Ever since the Dutch people learned that cars are over a ton of fast moving death machines, with traffic deaths (hit by cars) soaring during the 1970s and the 1980s, the authorities have agreed to force cars to drive slower by narrowing roads, adding speed bumps and outright banning cars in most city centers. Only buses, taxis and disabled people are allowed to drive in Utrecht's city center for example.
So the traffic situation was as bad in The Netherlands as it is in the USA but during the 1990s car traffic has been regulated and limited more and more. Resulting in walkable neighborhoods where pedestrians can safely cross the street without fearing for life and limb.
NOTE: if you're an American tourist and had a close encounter with a bike in Amsterdam, chances are you were actually walking on the bike lane. Tip: stay with the herd. If many people are walking somewhere, it's probably a pedestrian area and not a bike lane.
@@derPetunientopf No. German cities try that too. Not as well but still.
@@derPetunientopf This is something we have in the UK also. It is actually quicker for me to walk to the shop than drive because of all the obstacles I have to deal with.
What I found really strange when visiting California was that even in San Francisco which is one of the most affluent US cities it was completly dark at night. There were hardly any street lights! Its the complete opposite in nearly all of western Europe. Even in small villages at least junctions and crossings are well lit at night. Took a lot of getting used to.
As someome who moved from New Zealand to central Europe I found Europe dark.
americans get an heart attack when they think about who has to pay for those street lights, what if they never use that street?
@@Blackadder75 I read your comment with Rowan Atkinson's voice in my head.
The consequence of ample use of streetlights is a lot of light pollution. :(
@@transient_ Only with older types of light fixtures. I believe they did a test in Arizona or Texas, where they installed new lights in the 1990s or 2000s that only shone light down, where it was actually needed. Not upwards, as you have with the old type of lights.
The "weird" looking and narrow road you mention around 16 min in, is what's called a 2-in-1 road and the "shoulder" is actually bike lanes. So no matter what direction you drive in, you drive in the middle to give room for cyclist and when you meet another car you'll move to the right and go back into the middle after passing.
Here in Austria, the mandatory driving lessons include getting theoretical instructions from a teacher and also practical instructions too. After that, you have to drive for about 3000 km with a special plate, that indicates for others, that you are learning to drive. Before your driving test, you also need to do a first aid course.
After you got the licence you have to do 3 mandatory perfections drives after 6 months, 12 months and 18 months. Additionally, to that, you also have to do a training on a test road, training for driving under harsh circumstances, like roads under water, without good sight, hard emergency brakes, slippery roads.
p plates aka get bullied more plates. Its like L plates in uk.
The 3000km only applies it you're doing L(17). You can also opt for the full training + 0km required instead of 6h+3000km
and don't forget the price of around 2.5 grand... (price in Euro)
After all that, you can start “enjoying” driving in Austria, where they try to extort you at every opportunity with inexplicable 100km/h restrictions on highways, non-stop speed cameras and in the most perverse places, like going downhill on a 3-lane highway a few hundred meters after they posted one of those inexplicable 100km/h restrictions. Yeah, the roads are decent, but instead of focusing on driving, you get distracted following all the ever changing regulations, in place probably just to help meet the fines plan. Instead of being enjoyable or at least bearable, it’s just stressing for no real reason - I mean, yeah, the Government has to live somehow.
@@vali20vali20vali20 Some highway speed limits are 80kmh in my country
Every person who owns a car in the Netherlands has to pay road tax, which is based on the weight of your car. This money is then used to maintain the public roads. Hence why the roads are in mostly excellent condition. But that is another reason why you won't see many large pickup trucks like in America. If you were to own let's say a Ford F150 which weighs around 6600 lb, you would pay around 200 euros / month in road tax (would be even higher for a diesel car). Combine that cost with the fuel consumption of those vehicles and you end up with a monthly cost equal to a mortgage of a house...
And to clarify, In the Netherlands most people will have around 20-30 driving lessons (in regular traffic) before attempting their practical exam, depending on when the instructor thinks you are ready. With each lesson costing around 40-70 euros on average (for 1 hour) and the exams being around 130 euros per attempt, the cost adds up... Other licenses for trucks, busses and bikes will be even more expensive as you guessed right. Oh and driving lessons will always be in a manual transmission car unless specifically chosen to do driving lessons in an automatic transmission car, but in that case you will also only be allowed to drive automatic transmission vehicles.
The fact that we don't drive as much as the Americans, because distances are much smaller between point A and point B, is a huge factor in the fact that we have smaller vehicles in general. I mean you can drive 2 or 3 hours and be in another country, whereas in the US, you haven't even left the state you're from.
Nowadays it is more up to 30-40 lessons (from 1 hour).
Most Americans (at least when I was in high school) take drivers education classes with an instructor in the car during the summer. I'd estimate it is about 35 days of driving instructions.
Road tax in the Netherlands is a quarterly expense, meaning it's paid every 3 months. In my case, a small petrol hatchback, it's €93 quarterly (or €31 monthly). Furthermore, road tax is not only determined by weight but also per region (province), consumption and fuel type (more efficient = less road tax). Oh, and most pickup trucks you see in the Netherlands use LPG not diesel or petrol, LPG is far cheaper, better environmentally and more efficient during the combustion process (although you have to use more to get to the same amount of power as petrol). The reason why you don't see them as much is because they have to be imported (usually) and they are impractical.
License for bike?
We literally call them "cargo truck" or "vrachtwagen" in the Netherlands. Also over here keeping to the right is not only courteous, you can actually get fined for driving to the left unnecessary. Lastly the road you comment on at 15:30 is designed this way based on the principal to design roads based on how fast you want people to go instead of designing a "racetrack" and trying to enforce a speed limit. Most of these roads used to have a line in the middle, but removing the line gives the road a more narrow feeling even though (usually) two vrachtwagens can pass each other without too much difficulty.
In Italy we call them "camion" or "TIR". "TIR" came from the sign they had in the back of the trailer to skip the line at the border and to have the documents done in the city they were starting. Now you don't see them as often, because of the EU removing border checking, but people first started to see these huge things and the writing "TIR" on the back, and so they started calling them "TIR". As for "camion" that's the Italian word for "truck", and it includes small trucks as well.
In Germany we say "LKW"(L-K-W) wich is short for "LASTKRAFTWAGEN". ;)
@@LM-oh3vw In Hungary we call them Kamion as well :)
Huh.. I've never thought of one line roads this way. But then again, I'm more likely to be watching the edge of tarmac than the lines.. Any road is a racetrack if you can feel its flow and understand the limits.
I'm a Canadian from Montréal Québec. I regularly drive both in Canada and the US. I recently drove in Spain, both in cities big and small and rural autopistas. Here's what I found. First, Spanish drivers are very skilled and much more courteous than their North-American counterparts. Almost nobody will pass you from the right, whereas it is very common in the US, like driving slowly on the left lane. Also, following close behind is way less common in Spain. Apart from the drivers, there is the matter of road and street design. European countries largely use roundabouts and they are so much more efficient! Also, European cities restrain the allocated space to cars and truck, instead giving priority to pedestrians. Cities are populated with a huge amount of small scooters and motorcycles, which take up less space, both on the streets and parkings. Trucks in cities are way smaller, obviously adjusted for European narrow streets. We would certainly gain in doing that here in N-A. I could go on and on with how it is different and better to drive in Europe.
Hi There! from Spain here :) I hope you had a great time when you visited it. I lived in the US for a few years and they do drive horribly. The main differences for me are the lack of basic highway rules in the US, in Spain and most of Europe you would get a fine for driving on the left lane while the right one is emptly. Then, in the US, drivers are extremely distracted while driving (eating, drinking, on the phone) and with very low skills and preparation to actually drive a car (since over there they give the driving licences with an extremely basic test), they dont "read" traffic (as in paying attention at what is going on around them) and basically drive like if they were alone on the road.... Of course, courtesy, everyone in the US seems to get annoyed about someone else going faster than them, so they engage in some extremely silly and dangerous behaviors on the road just to not let someone else pass them. And last, car safety rules are incredibly loose in the US, with cars in extremely bad conditions driving on the road. In Europe those cars would be considered unsafe to drive, they wouldnt pass the annual inspection and any cop would pull them over and basically take the car away on a toll truck and the driver would get some big fines for driving that on the road. One more thing is that usually roads in US are worse than those in Europe, where we use tarmac instead of concrete which you can find in many US roads, and concrete has much less grip, making driving more dangerous, specially in the wet.
And in most EU undertaking is forbidden by traffic law
@@miroslavpatak9045 I pretty much doubt what you assert. I made a quick search and it does not say such a thing. Do you have a reliable source for this? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overtaking
@JacquesPPage Passing a car on the right is illegal in most EU countries with few exceptions e.g. stationary traffic. There is no EU traffic law but if you search the traffic law per EU member state you will find that passing on the right aka undertaking is illegal. A few country examples:
Netherlands Article 11 subsection 1:
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.rijschooldenk.nl/uk_road-traffic-signs-and-regulations-in-the-netherlands-rijschoolDenK.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiUjaGCi-2DAxVe9wIHHXqdDGMQFnoECCoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3Yo06j8ayJIaiRxPlgX0eE
Germany Section 5:
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=bmdv.bund.de/blaetterkatalog/catalogs/327056/pdf/complete.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjn88Lki-2DAxXQ2AIHHdyCABUQFnoECCoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1BdbA_xUXU69Wa5uMtjE7U
Spain Article 82:
spanishtrafficlaw.es/section-ii-about-the-movement-of-vehicles/chapter-vii-overtaking/section-1-overtaking-and-parallel-driving/article-82-overtaking-on-the-left-exceptions/
If you didn´t already see it, about the matter of public transportation, driving and urban planning in western Europe vs North America, there is a super interesting and well documented channel called Not Just Bikes. I recommend all of his videos, but you may most appreciate the ones about driving and road safety.
I second that. "Not Just Bikes" is a very interresting channel.
@@superpieton Yes, I agree. From that channel I first learned differences between Europe and America when it comes to transport and urban planning (as an European). And I found that all was true.
10:08
Guy: they follow the rules here, only pass on the left
Motorcyclist: Allow me to introduce myself
That is because camera car is not driving in the right lane
@@stefanovanoijen8899 it doesn't matter where he's driving you're supposed to pass on the left (unless you're currently merging onto the highway)
The rightmost lane is for the slowest vehicles
😂
@@coin5207 It does matter, because if he were in the correct lane it would be impossible to undertake
@@tombrophy8019 except he IS in the proper lane, on 4 lane road you DONT take right most lane unless you are going to get off of the highway on the nearest exit
right most lane is for getting off, trucks (limited to 100 kph) and getting on (THE most important reason NOT to stay in that lane ...)
if its two lane you stay on the right, if its 3+ you stay in the SECOND lane ...
Their ability to get out of the way of emergency vehicle, by leave the center of the road clear. Also when I was in England driving, I noticed when there's a merging to the HWY you move over a lane to let them flow into the main stream of traffic. There are still A-Holes everywhere though.
In most of Europe it is a normal merge when someone comes from a ramp, you do not have to yield unless otherwise indicated. The ramps are even made long enough for you to accelerate/decelerate properly.
Also in Germany, Austria and Switzerland there is a law called Rettungsgasse which translates to Rescue alley, if it is a 2 lane road then you need to leave the middle open and if its more than 2 lanes there will be signs above the HWY that indicates which of the lanes is the rescue alley (often the outer passing lane), and then that lane needs to be as close to the barrier as possible to keep a corridor open for emergency vehicles.
Meanwhile in big metropolitan cities like Paris the emergency vehicles are stuck in the almost constantly gridlocked traffic. Its crazy to see an emergency vehicle stopped in the traffic because no one can move out of the way.
@@YekouriGaming In the UK theres no requirment to move over a lane at a merge point. You are required to maintain a safe distance to the car in front which gives space for the merging vehicle to slot into. However its just something we do, its not always possible depends on how busy the road is and the traffic density. its just being polite, and helping to smooth the way. Same when passing a car that has had to stop on a hard shoulder or verge, you move out a lane or as far over as possible, giving it some clearance, its being polite.
@G T If they can't because other lanes are occupied, you'll have to wait and GIVE WAY.
@Never Truly Gone Rules for moving over for merging traffic would depend on country.
In NL at least the rule is that merging traffic should adjust their speed to match the trafficflow then safely merge, ie traffic on the main lanes shouldn't move over. The merging lanes are usually long enough to facilitate safe merge. Having said that you do see ppl moving over in the main lanes to ease merging traffic, this is esp done at short merging lanes by those who are aware of it and for trucks due to their lower acceleration.
@Never Truly Gone here in Spain it's not so much a rule but a thing of common courtesy. Also, if there is heavy traffic and you can't change lanes to let other vehicles merge, it's an unwritten rule that each car on the main lane let's one car merge in front of it, so you don't get the merging lane constantly stopped.
Just wanted to add, at 11:15 the reason that the electronic markers are showing a reduced speed limit, espescially in the right lane, is because of the (broken down) car on the right side (emergency lane). It is normally used to manage high way speeds during rush hour to maintain flow, but in occasions that may cause potential hazard (due to fast moving vehicles) to people which are in the emergency lane on the right due to a broken car, when reported or seen through highway cameras, live traffic management can control the speed per lane on different sections of the highway to reduce the risks for the ones needing and providing help in the emergency lane. I think thats kinda cool :P.
Hey Slovakia here. I think the people are also so disciplined because we have a lot of regulations... basically we can't even change the collor of our parking lights or we get fined :D
Generally people around me think that the US is so free, because you could slap 4 wheels on a washing machine and drive it, but we can't even change parking lights collor :D
bol som v chicagu 3 mesiace a spravil som tam zhruba 12000km a ludia tam jazdia ako breznania
No. You got that backwards. The US has much stricter rules on EVERYTHING compared to Europe. If you watched the video you would notice the speed limits in the US are much lower, and much stricter reinforced (because the police makes money on it). Most things that are dumb in the US is because the dumbness is forced by the government.
In the US you get fined if there is a open container with alcohol anywhere in the car. The passengers are not even allowed to drink. It is not a free country. it is freak country.
Here in Sweden it’s common to learn to drive from your parents starting at age 16, then taking just a few lessons before the test, but also 2 mandatory risk related lessons, first one is a 3 hour interactive talk about dangers like sleepiness and alcohol, the second one is more practical were we get to go on a slippery road (water on slick concrete or rubbers in asfalt) and try and brake with and without ABS, avoid obstacles and try out braking distances in practice, followed by some safety talk.
Slightly different from most of Europe but it results in drivers with many km behind the wheel before we get our license
I hope tests/lessons on slippery roads were mandatory everywhere.
mostly same here in Finland, but the rules change all the time.
Also, even if you can do a lot of your student driving with your parent, said parent also have to take a introductory course in how to be a driving teacher to be able to teach you. They then also have to register as your teacher at a governmental agency.
Partly. My parents had me taking lessons at a driving school so I wouldn't learn their bad behavior. I did anyway since we practiced a lot, since we drove around a lot.
@@railion6513 It is not mandatory in the uk, that's why when we have a few cm of snow it complete chaos.
Here in sweden you have to do "risk 1 and risk 2" before you can do your theoretical test as well as the driving test. Risk 1 is a 3h course abot how drugs and alcohol affects your driving and judgment, Risk 2 is learning how to drive on slippery surface. It is asphalt with rubber coating on which there is a lot of water sprayed all the time so you get aquaplaning. There you will learn how to brake, make evasive maneuvers, accelerate, etc. safely. First you go with an instructor then you get to drive alone while the instructor stands in a tower overlooking the courses and can talk to you via intercom. There are lights on the roof of the car so they can see when you brake and clutch.
Fuel here in Sweden right now is about 2,5usd/liter diesel and 95 octane gas is about 1,9usd/liter 98 octane is a few cents more. If you got load on a trailer and its not real secured you can get a fine and have to park the trailer at the side of the road to go and buy straps.
The slippery surface driving lessons should be mandatory in every country. I get it that it's more needed here in the north than, say, Morocco, but there are slippery conditions in every kind of climate.
@@VideoDotGoogleDotCom Also the slippery surface driving lessons should be mandatory everywhere just because they are rely fun!!! 🙂
@@johanstang8298 oh yeah they are really fun. U also technically cant fail it, assuming u dont floor it to intentionally slide out of control all the time then u could be forced to do the thing all over again and it is not cheap. When i did 1 of those risk lessons they hade the front half of a car chassi mounted onto a machine inside that would turn and hold the frame upside down and u then hade to try and unhook the seatbelt and climb out of the car. It was suprisingly alot harder then u first might think.
Yeah, om the other hand you can legally speaking just do those and still get your license, on the other hand most people need lessons to pass the actual test 1 time
@@VideoDotGoogleDotCom Diesel oil around braking zones is a problem.
Hello from Portugal. Usually videos talking about Europe tend to only mention countries like the Netherlands, Germany and France. For instance, in Portugal we also pay for our driving licence but it is about 500-900€ on average and the age requirement is 18yo. Theory and driving lessons are mandatory, as well as a final exam with a stranger jury and at a different city where we have never driven before.
In Portugal there aren't many highways with over 3 lanes, but that "lane discipline " still applies. Speed limit on highways is 120km/h, although one can easily travel at 150km/h on a two lane highway...but you might get caught and charged.
On my previous job driving was a necessary everyday task. We had to drive to visit farmers and it was one of the most relaxing and enjoyable moments one could have alone or with the team - just chill driving, chatting or singing.
The costs given in the video for the Netherlands atleast are the combined costs of the exam and the mandatory driving lessons. The license itself costs around 50 euro's the combined costs of the exams costs 200 euro's and the rest is the mandatory drivers hours which is 24 hours at minimum so that will cost you around 1700 for a relatively cheap drivers school.
I love how you mentioned singing while driving! That is definitely the very best part of being on the road!
The Portugal is insane. Nice people, but you guys give no fucks about driving at 70kmh in 1 car wide street and blowing past junctions without really looking to sides, stopping and on steep descents.
Hi from Italy,
Just a couple of points, our roads are really well mantained if you cruise on the highways, they are kinda really expensive though, urban roads are mostly bad, because there are too many towns, little or big, so population is widespread therefore there are too many roads to maintain compared to our friends from other European countries.
About the car being needed, it is true for many Europeans too, I live in what you'd call a ranch, so I must have offroaders and trucks and it's super expensive to buy and maintain them. (I drive about 1h30' everyday). Let's say that EU is investing in public transportation but forgetting at the same time about the people who actually need to drive.
Hmmm of all European drivers Italians are the worst
JE suis Franco-Italien, j'ai jamais vut autant de troue dans les routes que en Italie. Il est vrai que les autoroutes sont convenable, mais l'état d'une autoroutes payante en italie est pour moi celui d'une "Superstrada" française... Sans parler de leur sous dimensions dans la plaine du Po où il manque quasi sistématiquement une voie.
@@anatopioio sono ligure, spiegami perché fino a Ventimiglia l'autostrada è perfetta e l'asfalto è sempre nuovo mentre oltrepassato il confine sono tutte buche, rattoppi, gallerie non illuminate. ecc. Anche quelli di Top Speed in un video tra Liguria e Francia vi avevano perculato. E poi noi da decenni abbiamo i caselli automatici mentre voi quelle ridicole macchinette per monete.
@@spidertube79 Ho preso quel autostrada lunedì. La A10 in italia era lavori, un'asfalto di qualità mediocre e qualche bucce ma soppratutto rattopi.
Allora che in francia era un asfato bello, non il più bello che ho visto in francia ma meglio che l'autostrada italia, si quel autostrada sembra a una superstrada francese però comunque meglio che l'autostrada italiana. Non ho visto di lavori, olo uno picollo verso cannes.
Per il casello non vedo di che parli perchè le due prendo monetti, bancomatt e telepass, giusto che in francia il telepass non è reactivo come in Italia.
Also, more people taking public transit = less traffic on the road
Exactly. Where in the US would you find a freeway with 5 lanes each direction and that little traffic.
Im from spain, my license costed me 1500€ with 10 road practices in 2003, approved at first try, and traveled a bit around europe, and i would say that in the best of cases is like the video says, but everywhere in the world theres people that dont deserve their driver license, not to mention those who dare to drive without one, and yes, theres ppl on phone, speeding and all kind of wrong behaviours, but i suppose roads in general in europe might be safer
In stationary traffic, white van coming towards me, cigarette in mouth, tried answering mobile, opened mouth, cigarette dropped into lap, THEN they decided to look where they were going! Just missed me by a few inches.
@@stpfs9281 pwew you where lucky
definitely different to drive in germany vs italy, greece, balkans etc ; but i must say, i did drive around also in florida (as miami, as the keys etc) and that's some _cked up traffic system, which i presume, dont change as much in whole u.s. not any system everywhere, lanes dont make any sense, busted tyres everywhere, accidents all the time etc etc. and most _cked up things of all (imo), crossroads. the put f. semaphore not in front, but above crossing, so confusion is at highest level.
German here, last year I made my truck drivers licence. That are the classes C and CE in Europe. It cost minimum 10.000 Euro. My car licence cost 1.800 Euro at that time (should be more expensive now.) The small motorcycle class A 125ccm cost also i guess 1000 Euro. I don't really know anymore.
Great video! I can definitely relate to the not ‘securing of goods while driving’ section! On the highway in NJ we saw some dude in a minivan that had placed a huge mattress on top of it only securing it using only a single rubber band. The result was that the mattress was flying above the minivan going down the highway. On top of that the guy was eating a hotdog looking oblivious…! We were all laughing so hard at that.
Nowadays, there is a huge shortage of truckers in NL, companies will pay for the truckers licenses if you sign the contract. Also @10.08 "no one passes on the right" motorbike comes zooming by :) Love it.
Yeah I noticed that motorbike too. Perfect timing! 😂
@@ocanossa Do that in Germany and get caught by police you will be fined, for sure on the Autobahn and outside of cities (only exception: when stuck in a traffic jam) and in cities as soon as it is seen as "overtaking" (means: you change the lane to pass and change back then to the former lane) and not just "staying in your line".
@@SvenScholz Yep, exactly the same rules in The Netherlands too, overtaking on the right is prohibited, keeping your lane and passing by with the flow of the lane is fine...
@@ocanossa And if you read it again you will see that the no changing lane exception only applies to inside cities - outside of cities and on the autobahn the only exception is a traffic jam, otherwise you will be fined for overtaking/passing someone on the right, no matter if you're changing lanes or not.
@@ocanossa so you didn't overtake. Dude, all i say is: in Germany the rule is: no overtaking on the right or be fined. Your anecdotical special case does not change that. § 5 StVO (1): Es ist links zu überholen. = overtaking on the left - there are some exceptions in the following, but these are very specific adressing left-turn lanes and trams and bicycles and small motorcycles and such,. If you are blocked by a slow car on the left lane you have to wait until it makes way. No way around that.
Driver from Finland 🇫🇮 here.
Learning to drive and driving in the US sounds really like the WILD WEST 😬...
Yea kinda 🤣 getting off major interstates and rather on to empty county and state roads can be fun and scenic though. Still some great drives to be had here
I felt safer driving in Indonesia than I did in the USA - and that's saying something for someone with a Dutch license :D
Driving in Finland, watching it on TV it mostly seems to involve going everywhere sideways.
Do you realize that for a European you are absolutely unique?
I have never seen someone from USA so openminded, curious, clever, fair and honest and at the same time so cool and pleasant to watch and listen. Bravo
!. a big fan
europ started two worldwars and slautrd more than 50 million people
europ has a patently apalng histry
@@Tony-lj5lr It's your spelling that is apalling.
I can attest to that. And I'm a Dane with acquaintances in Florida, California, Oklahoma and Tennessee, all of whom are liberal, left leaning freethinkers, aware that the "good ol' USofA are NOT the best at everything. Even they sometimes fall short of your openness and willingness to consider other opinions.
That is why in Europe, especially in cities, we prefer to use public transport. The P + R (park and ride) system is a combination of private and public transport and allows the user to get to important points on the outskirts of the city or the main city entrances with a personal or other vehicle, for driving around the city , use the city bus. If it happens that there is an object on the road, drivers report this to local radio stations, which then inform by radio where and on which road there is an obstacle, a traffic jam and that drivers should be careful.
i reccomend looking at the youtube channel not just bikes, he has a lot of nice videos and informative videos comparing Eu or The Netherlands to stuff in canada or the US.
Thank you I’ll check it out 👍
@@IWrocker This is a good one: ua-cam.com/video/d8RRE2rDw4k/v-deo.html
But actually I can recommend all of his video's :)
@@IWrocker also consider Bicycledutch with a video about Systematic Safety / Vision Zero. It shows the legislative/policy groundwork that dictated the transition of our Dutch infrastructure!
Hi,
I completed my drivers license here in Norway back in january of 2018, 4 months of intensive lessons. I went through with minimum requirements, and it still costed 35000 nok (about 3500$), I already had 12 years of MC experience when I started, so I knew traffic. The road quality here varies, out east around the capitol its the best. Our national speed limit is 80km/h (50mp/h) outside populated areas, and 50km/h (31mp/h) inside populated areas. We do have speed limits up to 110km/h in some parts of the country.In general people are courteous and follow the rules, but we do get the occasional idiots who speeds and cause annoyances, and dangerous situations.
Driving in Norway was best experience ever. I have never felt so freeking safe on road. Regards.
I just finished this summer 😊 took me 1 year, mostly driving with my SO as a guide, but some lessons and ofc. All the mandatory once. I think I got it around 25k nok.
To add, here in Norway (and I think many other places in Europe) its illegal to drive with unsecured cargo. If you drop something or your stopped and the police find that you haven't secured properly, you could loose your licence.
Most of the new cars in Norway are electric and something what ads to safety here is that no one want to run out of juice, so we can reach our next charger.
If you ever see an EV driving way to fast, he have to much in his battery and think he might earn time by flattening it or “preheating” it before he charges😅
Czechia here. I drove in a lot of countries (including South Africa, Turkey or Indonesia) and have to say that USA is one of the less crazy ones. But once I was driving a rental car on a highway somewhere near Lexington, KY, just on the speed limit and suddenly a giant truck with a two-storey house on the semi-trailer was overtaking me! What the hell? 😀
I'm not too sure anymore about the cost of getting a CDL for a truck here in Belgium, but when I went for my licence, I looked through some of the CDL info. About 5 years back, just the yearly insurance for a big rig allready was about 3.000 Euros (2.957 dollars) minimum. And I can only imagine it has gone up quite a lot, just as car insurance did.
The way the roads are build in the Netherlands are also a big reason there are so few accidents. Roads near city's are ussually quite tight. This so people dont drive over the speedlimit. In neigborhoods the roads are made from bricks instead of asphalt, so everybody drives 15mph or less. That also makes it possible for children to play outside without supervision; and thats why dutch children tested happiest in the world.
Hi, Australian fellow here. I didn’t even realise or think about the cost to get a lisence here, but it is. I could have gone for lessons from friends/family but that would have taken so much longer. As it was I paid for 8 $140 lessons (which includes a car as well as instructor) but these lessons were only 30mins. Not to mention every official test in the three stage process cost around $200
I work as a delivery driver for a grocerie store, and in the Netherlands you can still drive 130 km/h in some places between 19.00-6.00! It's also a lot less busy at those times.
Sir, I'm Portuguese and I recently stumbled on a couple of your videos, and I must cheer your spirit toward being genuinely and cheerfully curious about all sorts of subjects outside USA while recognising stuff that are not so good in USA and vice versa.
I'm happy to share more about EU and Portugal if you feel to know more about it.
Cheers!
As a Portuguese, I can say this video is mostly true, ofc there are some places/countries that have more cars but yes it's true. The stats prove yes , it's safer than USA. And yes that car you were curious about is a Seat. And yes you've to secure the cargo in everything, or you will have problems . About cameras: in highways, road in general police have movement sensor cameras, high speed cameras, speed radars, so they can control speed. We have it also in Portugal. And finally, yes the driver licenses are expensive as hell, truck licenses even more. And all of them imply classes, and being tested, for example here in Portugal , you have like 30/40 questions, you fail 4... say goodbye, you failed. And to drive trucks with special substances like gas, chemical substances etc etc you need different special amends to the driver license, for that you do special trainings . To use a forklift you've to have a special license. Here in Portugal, You can't drive a forklift as mall storage employee if you don't have one (forklift license) , this is just one example.
in germany we have a legendary forklift-drving education video, its called "Staplerfahrer Klaus" (Forkliftdriver Klaus) its pretty graphic and stupid at the same time and was used in classes for getting the forklift license :D
Great stuff thank you!!! To reply to both comments here, we had hilariously bad training videos at Chrysler for our forklift training videos and yes we required a separate heavy vehicles operation license to drive a forklift which I had
@@IWrocker my brother in law has all truck licenses possible in Portugal to transport everything, so you can imagine de tests made.and the study implied to it. But yes, in road , Europe is safer. Even in trucks, they have an amount of hours to drive after that they've to stop. You've seen the rally cars, the supper cars, for example koenigsegg, they are better now because we are smarter, but because we adapt to the rules and circumstances oh the word and laws. You can have s Chevrolet consuming 50l per 100km, and we can have a Volvo twice as fast, with less engine and consuming less, that makes us less man ? Not really. It's like comparing a Shelby with the best hybrid in Europe. We adapt to the rules. Is that bad? It depends of the vision you have of the future you want to your children and grandsons.
It's hilarious 😂😂
Its almost the same all over europe
You should look at the difference between getting a motorcycle license in the US compared to European countries. In the US it's to damn easy and you still don't know what you do when you get a license. In the Netherlands I had to do 3 tests, theory, vehicle control (emergency braking, u turns and some other similar stuff) and finally a road test
I recall many years ago in South Australia going for the practical test for my motorcycle licence. The cop stood on the corner and told me to go around the block and come back to him. This I did. He looked at me and said something like "No blood on you, you passed" and signed off on the paperwork. I received my bike licence the same day.
This channel has become my absolute favourite. Great job O/ // Jimmy from Sweden.
Nice video, I live in Sweden and even driving with snow or ice on the top of your car is illegal, since ice and/or snow on the car roo can be equated with cargo, and are thus counted as unsecured cargo.
My favorite station wagon is a Volvo 855 T5-R that I used to have a few years ago :)
Of course we have our crazy drivers in Europe, but yeah rules are respected by the majority.
I'm french and I was once in Germany when I was a kid. I'll always remember that guy in a Porsche overtaking us at maybe 200km/h (125mph) on the autobahn, and flashlighting like crazy when my dad overtook him back at 55km/h once arrived in the city (limited at 50km/h).
12:50 A Czech millionaire not too long ago drove 417km/h with his Bugatti Chiron not too long ago. He was sued, not for the actual speed, but there's also a law in Germany that you must be able to break within visual range. He was not convicted, as he had checked upfront for the right time with very low to no traffic, checked the weather an street conditions and had several look-outs on the track.
But it caused quite some discussion about these kinds of speeds and speed limits in general.
There was one proposal to set up a speed limit of 200km/h, which would not change that much to most of the drivers. It would also help to a least reduce the problems with high differential speeds.
German highways are the safest in the world with much lower accidents than most of the world. However life endangering (mass) accidents happen either due to truck drivers or high differential speeds.
isnt that the same guy that was cruising around witht he gp2 car guy lol
@@Bennime_Once yeah, thats him
As I am an international truck driver, I can tell you the German Autobahn is NOT the safest in the world !! In fact, iI think it is one of the most dangerous in Europe ! The difference between slow and fast is way to big !!! Manny times they change max speed ! Then you need to slow down at night, then 130 and then again you need to change your speed when the road is wet. Then you have to slow down for noise reduction (larm) sometimes I go crazy when I drive in Germany !! And the most irritating is that truck are only allowed to drive 60 km on the Bundesstrassen weil cars can drive 100km.
And they al the time want to pass you like idiots.
found a package for a truck drivers license here in Sweden (only for like a boxtruck not with a trailer) the starter package was about $2300 for the books and 9 lessons and on top of that you would need to pay for rent and the drivers test when it's time for it. And for the license for trailer it would probably be the same
The shoulders on the narrow road u mentioned were bicicle priority lanes, the cars drive in the middle making room for each other and the bicicles drive on the right side.
Example1 2 cars pass each other in opposite directions. both cars make use of the bicicle lane.
Example2 a car wants to pass a tracktor.
The car can make use of the bicicle lane and pass.
Example3 either of these 2 situations happens but theres a bicicle in front of u, u stay behind the bicicle until the other lane cleared and u can go afterwards.
Passi
All I know is that in Sweden, get your drivers licence is a real project.
It cost allot of money and you have to go through several trainings that are mandatory, like two particular safety trainings while at least one of them is training in slippery driving.
A special facility is used for this, really fun.
The theory tests are also quite hard, so it is not uncommon that people fail and need to redo the test...cheers from Sweden
got mine for 4000kr, its easy if you put your head into it
In France, you can learn to drive with your parents, but it's still part of the whole official package. You have to do the same number of mandatory lessons with an official school, but it allows you to have more experience in driving before the exam.
I'm pretty sure driving at 140kph instead of 130kph is quite a hefty fine and point loss here, given that if the police retains 140 for the fine, you were quite above that (there is a 5kph buffer they automaticaly remove from controls).
I thought they based fines on % over the speed limit you are driving, at least thats what the police do here, so driving 10 kph over in a 30kph zone is way more serious than driving 10 kph over in a 110 zone. Afterall driving 10kph over on a highway where everyone drives too fast is a lot less serious than driving 10 kph over in an area where children may be in the road since it is harder to stop, and 10kph may be the difference between stopping successfully and a death
@@Mancorl It is not to fast is is faster then allowed. With a dangerous situation with in a city with playing children it might be to fast.
Hi there! I've recovered your videos just quit recently. I love them! Your oppinions and knowledge on driving, esp. trucks I appreciate a lot.
Concerning the speed limit mentioned here: the autobahn is generally speaking a highway, nothing more nothing less.
We have a sports car... and once or twice we hit the autobahn with that car at a max. speed of 322 kmh, which resembles 200 mph.
Hi, Poland here. Can't say about other countries, but here gasoline averages around 6 dollars per gallon. Road condition varies widely, some are very good, many, especially local roads are pretty bad. Still waiting for s3 expressway that is built near my town ^^
I'm from Switerland and regarding the price and length of the process of having a license it cost me around 2000CHF (around 1863$). You have to take an eye exam, do a first aid course, a "sensitization" course (I don't know the right word, basically they teach you how to behave, how to avoid dangers, what not to do, driving theory), then after all that you can do the theoretical exam. After you have do the theoretical exam, you can then take driving lessons (I did 9 but the average is around 15), when the "teacher" feels like you are ready they will register you for the practical exam. If you pass the practical exam, you are now a "student driver", it's basically a probation period where you can drive alone like a real driver but you aren't considered as such and additional rules apply to you. This period lasts for three years. During those three years, you have a certains amount of time to go to "L2" lessons, these are two day where you learn how do emergency brakes, drive on wet road and learn how to behave when you lose control of you vehicule (they intentionally make you drift to show how dangerous it can be). If you have done everything mentionned previously and the three years have passed, congratulations ! you now have a permanent driver's license.
The 2000CHF of course don't include the cost of the car and everything that comes with buying a car.
Also, I think it's really cool when you get excited for cars. I also like cars and I get excited when I see a nice car or a "rare" car for this country. Like there's 1 or 2 Pontiac Firebird where I live and it's cool to see them.
In Switzerland we don't have tolls on the highway, instead we buy a "vignette", a little sticker that we buy each year and stick on our windshield. So instead of paying a few bucks each time we take the highway, it's 40$ for a full year. It also allows to fund road work.
Securing your cargo here is serious business, if you don't do it properly you risk a HUGE fine.
15:40 Typical country road, commonly found between villages, with red strips for cyclists. max speed: 60 kph (40 mph). Usually there are alternative larger veins stringed between the towns and villages, but these roads are generally the original farmer tracks created when they started agriculture, something like a thousand years ago.
The red strips are cyclist exclusively. That means that normally a car shoul;d stay off the red strip, unless they have to pass an oncoming car, in which case it's allowed to BRIEFLY use the red strip when there is no cyclist there, of course.
Thousands of years old, the country roads that wiggle around
various small (a few acres, not square miles) fields.
Dude I love these videos and how invested you are, and how interesting you think it is how different our roads and our trucks and stuff are.
If you want, you could interview me for a video, me being a dutch Truck driver, having done all the tests and stuff, having the costs still fresh in my head, and being a big truck fanatic! If you want to, dm me! We can work something out! ✌🏻
Meanwhile, keep making these cool videos dude!
Haha, fun to see this, I live quite close to where the video that's being reacted to is recorded when he's off the highway. It's interesting to see someone reacting to what you're used to your entire life (even if I'm 32 and don't have a driver's license myself haha)
@4:33 In Australia It costs $38 for the learner test, and $67 for a two-year learner's permit licence. An L plater 100km/h limit applies, no matter the posted limit. South Australia enforces P1 for 12 months and P2 for two years. A provisional licence costs $161.
Where are you from? It cost me $50 to do my Learners test and another $25 for the actual licence. Plus the speed limits for L and P players is 90 in NSW
@@JayJayGamerOfficial They could be in WA, they have a 100 km speed limit. Here in QLD L platers can go at the given speed limit for the road. Honestly rather wish we had the 90 cap. My daughter is on her p's and she is careful but she has already seen bad driving, even on her test somebody with a give way sign cut her off. Coming home down the hwy she saw two idiots overtake on the other sides overtaking lane. Not to mention some roundabout shenanigans.
When i did my L's in 1999 the limit was 80kmh regardless what's signed and 100kmh for P's. We never had P1 and P2 either. It was just 24months on Ps. South Australia. Im guessing its all changed now. Which makes me wonder how many other laws have been changed that they never decided to notify us about...
@@Twenty_Six_Hundred I did my Ls in 1997 and there was no speed limit or how many passengers you could drive with. From memory you were able to get your Learners if you were 15 years 8 months old to qualify. I think it was $27.80 to obtain a Learners Permit in Victoria but I could be wrong and all tests were written, no computers at the time. Although the printing of your Learners Drivers License was made on the spot and valid for 10 years should you not be in a rush to get your Probationary license when you turned 18!
Learners are limited to 90kph in NSW same as red provisional. Green provisional is 100kph.
on the drivers license subject : I am 16 and I am currently passing what we call "conduite accompagné" in france, which is a little drivers license you get before being 18 that allows you to drive but only with an adult the has a driver license. That allows me to "train" before passing my "permis b" which will allow me to drive alone.
Great video too man, i love seeing people learning about my "culture" xD.
@G T I will add that all ways of learning and getting a drivers license in France first involve 20 mandatory hours of training with a professional teacher. So everyone has at least 20 hours of driving in a formal setting.
That's a learners permit (L) in Australia. We have provisional licences (P)....first year red then green.
Seeing the world “digitally” is the next best thing right now to actually traveling the world haha so I’m glad you enjoyed the video friend 🎉😎 I love learning about new things and cultures, it’s very refreshing and the US is great but very isolated… you don’t learn alot about other places here unless you seek it out yourself
@G T Mmmmh it’s not quite the exact same though.
See in Germany you have that system as well (I think they introduced it back in 2006 or so) that you can start driving at age 17 with an adult who has their license AND needs to be registered when you get your learners permit (so usually you’d register your parents and / or grandparents).
But we also have the system of „Probezeit“ - I‘d translate it as probation period - which means you have 2 years after you get your license during which you can’t commit any traffic related offenses and also can‘t drink a single drop of alcohol or you will lose your license immediately and have to do some extra seminars to get permitted to a new license test. But you have to do (and pay!) it all over again.
After those two years you can drink to the limit of 0.5‰ blood alcohol and of course traffic violations won’t automatically cause that much trouble.
So we have this learners permit system but with added spice and also a probation period. I don’t know whether other countries have that or not
I would love to see you react to some videos from the Not Just Bikes channel.
The dude is Canadian, apparently lived and traveled in big cities around the world and ended up moving to the Netherlands. His channel deals with the differences of car-centric vs people-centric infrastructures.
15:57 The road is designed for bicycle safety in the more rural areas. I've seen it in Denmark too. If you see a car coming towards you, you will pay more attention to anything on the right side of your car, when you make space.
16:25 Yes SEAT is a Spanish company now part of the VW group, in a similar way to how Skoda is a Czech company that is also now part of VW. I rented a Seat Leon station wagon on a 2016 European road trip (not deliberately, but that's what I was given) and shortly after returning to Australia I purchased a Skoda. Great car, love it, and highly likely that my next car will be both EV and Skoda.
You can see them everywhere here in Spain, I've never had any but I know a lot of people who have them. They're really durable, cheap, they're easy to drive and they aren't slow cars
Back in the 1980s, when we went to Spain for holidays the rental car was always a SEAT Panda! 🐼🤣
@@MostlyPennyCat Seat don't make the Panda. That is a FIAT.
In Italy, i paid for my driver license around 500€ (10 years ago when i got it), and it was a lil bit easier, but there was always a theory exam and a practice exam to pass and mandatory driving hours.
Now i think it costs around 1000€ in total or even less (not sure, should check it) but it's way more difficult (in the theory exam now u can do less mistakes and the practice exam lasts more, like around 1 hour).
In the city I live (Naples) we make not so many accidents cause we are used to crazy drivers, even driving in narrow spaces etc... So we are ready to drive with our eyes wide open 😂 some people say if u learn to drive in Naples you can drive anywhere 😂😂
In fact whenever i drove elsewhere, i never got problems 😎
It costed me about 400 for theory, and about 1200 for practices and final test.
i would suggest that you drive in Athens, the drivers there are nuts, or Istanbul, even more nuts, to compare that with Naples. As a Greek i think our drivers are pretty similar
At 15:35 The “shoulders” as you called it on the small road are for bicycles and the funny thing is that the bicyclecles are always protected in the Netherlands and have more rights than cars.
not anymore, as cyclists and pedestrians for that matter took advantage of it, and did not look proper. They took the right of way instead of getting it.
16:53 I live in sweden and we actually did lose our cargo once. We bought a huge 2 person bubblebath and my dad thought " that aint going anywhere " and it did weight a shit ton but it was windy and it was in a square box and somehow the wind picked it up and the entire bathtube flew off. Luckily there was no one on the highway at the time so we just stopped and picked it up again.
Those big riggs can really be dependent on country to country. I used to work for a company that paid the expenses for getting a license-C in Belgium. I know a friend of mine had to pay it out off his own pocket. So really depends on lol. Don't know if the same counts in the US though or in other EU countries.
For me getting a license was allowed from 17 and 9 months. And that went true a driving school
employment office paid for my C+E and proff. licences, my boss was offering me that he can also pay it. Czech republic
Yup! 100% agree with what he said. Makes sense! But as we turn 18, at least in the Netherlands I feel, your parents usually gift you your drivers license, like pay for your lessons and your driving tests. Which you actually need to take two in the Netherlands. One on theory, so traffic rules etc.and you can’t take your actual driving test until you passed your theory. Really interesting 😊 oh Ps: Italians and the French are overall seen as ‘crazy’ drivers in Europe haha 😂. They are a bit more … chaotic let’s say haha
Only if your parents can afford it..
I don't think your parrents gifting you a drivers licence when you are 18 is the norm but more of a privilege, in uni about 50% has their drivers licence and the rest doesn't.
Hi there, nice to see your reaction. :)
I'd say that in my youth (1990's) in a small village in Germany, it was also quite a necessity to get a drivers license. Back in the days it wasn't as expensive as it is nowadays: I got it for around 1200 DM. But the teaching was good: driving at night, driving on the Autobahn, parking rear and front etc. My teacher took it very seriously and my examiner/tester a lot more :)
6:40 truck licenses are divided into size categories depending on dimensions/ tonnage and price is 3x+ that of car license....
Also there is physical and psychological evaluation before lessons even begin and then every 5 years. Same for car if you want to drive professionally.
On top of that you need additional license to haul cargo and transport people, unless you don't own a company/ work for one and use the truck for personal groceries only or something (which almost no one does.... maybe old army truck enthusiasts?)
Most truck drivers are not only very good drivers/ know all the rules, but also "high class" road users.
I actually live in the Netherlands, our highways generally speaking overcrowded, traffic jams around Amsterdam are daily headaches. I guess this gentleman drove middle in the day or in the weekend. The highway A2 between Amsterdam and Utrecht is guarded by cameras, actually the authorities keeping your speed in account, speeding is automatic fines.
In Rural roads we have bike road in same time as the car’s,but most of the time we do separate roads for the bikes ( red colour) You have to be very careful for the bikes, they have priority all the time.
I live in Germany to and every time when I drive on the highway near Grafenwöhr (US military base) I can immediately recognize a US soldier driving in front of me.
Everytime driving skills of this driver are just so funny. 😂😜
15:40 The areas left and right of the dotted lines are shared cycling lanes. Cars and bikes occupy the same space on the road in this case. Although in the Netherlands there a even cycling highways that run parallel to motorways...
At 10:09 : "They only pass on the left" while a bike is chillingly passing on the right... :)
Another good thing we have in europe is round abouts. I think it is better and much secure than regular crossing. Good dispatch for multiple directions, more permissive because you can easily u-turn or make 1 more turn if you have missed the exit, it generally don't need traffic lights, it is much more unlikely to have high speed collision (you can't go full speed if you just want to go straight forward so you need to slow down when approaching), and some are really gorgeous (easy to remember or when you explain the path to somebody).
just wanna add: in the Netherlands driving in the left lane unnessersary is'nt allowed and you can get a fine for that, it's only for passing, period. OC some with big wallets or ego's don't care.
Edit: those "schoulders" on the narrow road are bikelanes,.. it's a two way street and as a car you can drive over them but bikers can't leave them, so cars can pass trough the middle when they encounter a bicycle.
I think the nicest highways in Europe are the tolled ones in France. Always empty and very relaxed.
The weirdest ones are those in Belgium. They are completely lit at night. In Sodium vapor yellow. Very spooky. :D
15:50 this is a road in the countryside/farmlands usually, these are two way streets but the sides are designated bycicle lanes so bikers can do so safely, its also very tight because it helps people stick to the speed limit, discourage parking on the side of the road in a non-emergency and makes sure people pay attention while driving since if there's oncomming traffic they both have to move far to the side to make sure to not trade paint or side mirrors
16:30 yes we secure cargo here because if your cargo causes an accident incurance, no matter how good, will not cover it, theres also a hefty fine on unsecured cargo as well as caro sticking out more than a meter needs to be indicated with (in the netherlands) a bright orange flag or reflective vest (ones you see at worksites) but it needs to be secure.
16:26 Yes, it's a Seat Ibiza. It's on the VW Polo base.
I had this type in Diesel and a newer one in Gasoline (Sold both by now).
Expensive licenses:
As he said, mandatory lessons. This is to make sure you're learning the right way to do things, not the way your parents do it, which isn't necessarily the same thing. The cost of the license itself is probably similar to the US. It's expensive simply from paying the driving instructor, and everyone gets paid good money in Europe, so their minimum wage is probably close to the equivalent of $20/hr, US.
@@ocanossa you're assuming a lot. Firstly, I'm Australian. I was using $20/hr in US to give Ian an idea of what even the lowest paid people in the Netherlands get paid. Didn't think it would help to go from Euro and convert it to US dollars as it wasn't relevant to the point I was making, that most of the expenses in getting a license was from having to pay for lessons, not the license itself. The video itself said that different countries have different standards of driving. The article that the quote about expensive driver's licenses was from was talking specifically about the Netherlands, so I didn't need to mention other countries, because I was talking about a specific country, not all of Europe.
no idea the costs now...but here in Italy...i spent around 1500€ for my license, on top of that cost of the mandatory driving lessons that was like 10-15€ (price depends on the driving school), your parents can teach you how to drive, there are still a minimum number of hours to do with a driving instructor from driving school. I still had to learn how to drive with manual shift and how to drive up and down hill, stopping and drive again while going up or down hill. Also no errors allowed, just one during the quiz. That was a decade ago...nowdays it costs more.
Why do you need mandatory lessons if you can pass the same test homeschooled? Just sound like a money grab to me.
Then $20/hr is more state-by-state thing. Alabama your rich - New York you're on welfare.
Then add in the actual cost for living and tax in Europe (you might have $5)... Just think the Netherlands is paying something like $7.50 per US Gallon on gas - Florida is around $3.50 and we dont pay state income tax, so the gas prices drop if you cross state lines.
@@gatorage850 the mandatory lessons are there because parents can pass bad habits or mistakes they have/do while driving, something an instructor will not do and will teach how to drive correctly (at least in theory)
Europe is bigger than US. Not everybody gets paid good money in Europe. For example salary in Spain is half from those in France or Germany, and a third of those in Netherlands.
Our minimum wage is roughly the same as the US: 7 euros/hour, but the problem is that average salary doesn't usually get past *twice* that ammount.
You're considered a *RICH* person here when you reach 60,000 €/year and you're entitled to pay 47% of your wages in taxes with those levels of income.
As a Brit, I've seen many crazy US driving vids, and it absolutely baffles me how people fail to slow down, drive all over the (wrong) place, or don't look where they are going and just ram into other vehicles. It's hard to understand how driving there can be so bad.
It's absolutely fascinating to see the American perspective the other way round.
Visiting the UK from the Netherlands over Christmas I was shocked at how badly the non-highway roads are maintained in the UK. The depth and frequency of pot-holes probably mean you shake your car to pieces in a couple of years !!
@@jananders1351 It's mostly country roads and layby (for next to road parking) like that, generally traffic calming is worse. Then again, those types of roads have cost me two tires so far. Someone did pull out right in front of me without indicating, but luckily my brakes work.
@@jananders1351 I used to buy Michelin tyres, swap the wheels around and check the wheel tracking regularly because the tyres were always wearing down to the cord on the inside edges = 4 x £165.00 + 2 x £25.00 for tracking checks, per year. However, because of the pot-holes, I don't drive anywhere fast enough to require the superior grip of expensive tyres. Now, I buy the cheapest tyres for about £65.00 and don't bother with the tracking - annual cost = £260.00 The back tyres are usually good for three years if I don't swap them around.
@@Braneloc uk highways are ajoke compared to us ones
our road quality is far far far bette than yours
even rankings say that
id say also the official lessons and testing are more comprehensive. (not the uk ours is basically potter around town and park and you can if ya good get it done in 20 hours or less) but some countries have you in some way taught and tested on most aspects of driving..(in the uk we have pass plus but id say even that was lacking) some even get ya on skid pans
10:38 these walls are sound barriers. You didn't notice the matrix signs above the road (highway), they can dictate the speed or close lanes in for example danger because of a accident ahead.
in europe driving lessons include driving in slippery conditions. highway. night driving etc. pretty much every aspect you can encounter in traffic is included in the driving lessons.
also one thing that really reduce speeding is all the speed cameras.
if speeding a picture is taken and sent to you along with a ticket showing driver , car and license plate.
you can't plan to have driving lessons in slippery conditions; Nighttime driving might be as well sunset driving in the evening when done in the summer
@@EnjoyFirefighting well you can definitely plan for slippery conditions on special tracks where the conditions are created artificially to teach you hwo to handle them.
And night driving is a bit overstated, it is more twilight driving, since twilight and low angle sun conditions are the most difficult regarding light.
@@metalhat3534 yeah, but only if you have one like that anywhere in your area; The driving instructor won't go onto an hours long trip just to reach one of the training facilities; I made several driver's licenses so far and I've never driven in slippery conditions in the driving lessons
In parts of Europe.
@@EnjoyFirefighting You will have that within the area, because the lessons are mandatory... So if you didn't you'd go to one anyway. We went as a group, maybe 10-20 to a track and did it there, took a handful of hours. Was pretty fun, we got to spin the car in the wet.
Pet hate of mine on Aussie highways are drivers hogging the passing lane. Their logic seems to be that “if I’m doing the speed limit you shouldn’t be going faster than me” or “I like it out here in the passing lane… there’s less cars”. They don’t consider that speedos differ car to car or that hogging the passing lane causes cars to weave from lane to lane. Weaving in itself causes accidents and lane hogging causes frustration which causes accidents. It’s actually a law here that you keep left unless overtaking (on roads above 90kph) but too many drivers will use the logic mentioned above to excuse themselves from that law. I don’t understand why this is such a problem here when the European countries have it so well sorted out.
Rant ends😇
In a three lane highway, I tend to stick between the slow lane and middle lane, only going to the overtaking lane when necessary. And I usually end up going faster while in the left lane, because everyone's in the right lane trying to overtake the idiot who refuses to move over to the middle lane. Which is illegal, passing on the inside lane. But when I'm only doing the speed limit and the overtaking lane is going ten under, sorry, I'll just hope the cop pulls over the people not sticking to the left unless overtaking before he sees me.
Fair enough, but generally people don't stick to speed limits ever unless there are cops or cameras, I have had times going home from work where in driving 60 on a main road which is the speed limit I will always have other drivers flying past me
NSW it is 80 and up.
@@JayJayGamerOfficial depends on the country. Where in the world are you?
@@evanflynn4680 Sydney, Australia
It cost around 2 thousand euros to get your license here in Finland for a B class, and your first one is only good for a year, then you are retested before you get your long-term one. Also you have to pass a slippery track. In Finland, you have to have a registered instructor to teach you and you have to have the extra brake pedal in your car.
I live in a part of the UK that's almost, but not quite, our equivalent to Florida.
Decades ago, as a kid in the early 90's, I saw a wonderful example of how bad driving down here can get.
Picture the scene: A one way street outside of a school, around home time, kids all over the place, parents cars badly parked all over the place. There's a sharp right angle turn near the bottom that restricts vision right outside the gate as well.
I watch as a Bedford Rascal, Suzuki Carry - Kei car forward control van, comes up to the "One Way, No Entry" sign.
The driver pauses, considers the sign for a moment, then sensibly turns around - though with a messy 3 point turn.
They then slam into reverse and accelerate into the stree backwards.
The van leans over into the corner hard, kids dodging out of the way, before accelerating away up the street - gearbox and engine screaming in protest at the speed.
Even as an under five I recognised that for how dangerous and stupid it was.
I'm from the UK, and I passed my driving licence at 52. I've driven wagons, FLTs and other vehicles privately within the works premises (Pilkingtons) which was a large factory area; from the age of eighteen. I used to deliver courses all over Merseyside,, UK for a couple of decades and just used public transport. In the last three years, I have driven all over the UK delivering courses by car, and I must say the average driving is pretty smooth with the odd bad driver. I did also spend about £2,000 in driving instructors and test costs. However, I did pass my theory and practical tests the first time for both; otherwise it would have been higher.
My Italian friend drove me and my wife through the Swiss Alps and I was fake breaking the whole way. And I grew up driving in the South Island NZ. Fast.
As an Italian myself, I totally understand...
Sorry
Haha, the scariest ride I ever had was with a Kiwi in his Audi Quatro. Down a private mountain road covered on snow. Drifting every corner.
braking
@@bremCZ Didn't edit, I was speeding.
@@stewartlee8858 So, you're not going to edit the spelling error because you were speeding?
I'm 30 and still don't have a drivers license, just because I don't need it when public transportation is so good, I literally can get anywhere. Busses drive every 10min, trains every 20min and in most cases trains are faster than cars
RE: the 18 wheeler, that's often not as bad as you think. Of the few countries I know of the training is expensive, but the licencing is relatively cheap(~£300 in the UK if you pass first time, but you can just retake the bit you fail with most tests costing about £30, although the live road test is £140).
There's heavy fines for breaking the rules with suspended licences for repeat violations though which makes a world of difference(it's your livelihood, do you really want to risk a £300 fine and 2 week suspension over lying about when you take breaks? Worse in partice too since you can be fined per offence so if you lie about 3 breaks that's potentially £900 in fines).
From my experience in Germany everyone's driving at least 10kph above the speed limit.
I'm the kind of person who sticks to the rules so it's even more frustrating when speeding cars get angry at me for following them.
Other issues like weaving, "street races", "overtaking on the right" and so on do happen but are much less likely and mostly haben with younger drivers.
Once I was a passenger in a friend's Car when his brother pulled up next to us and drove through oncoming traffic next to us for several minutes.
You need to go with the flow my man, that's the golden rule during rush hour 😁
:puts hand up: 🤚I was one of those tourists who drove in Florida, can confirm, I had no idea what was going on, felt like I was just throwing money at the same toll booth for an hour.
6:50 The prices for the truck-driving-license is around the same price (maybe a little more) than the regular car driver license (in the EU it's the "B"-Class (cars max. 3,5 t. (metric tons))), but its mandatory to posess it before you can make the C1 or C-Class (C1 is the smaller one for trucks and other cars with a weight 3,5-7,5 t.). If you want to pull trailers over 0,75t, you must make the CE-Class one, otherwise you are not allowed to pull trailers. So you can count with around 3.000 € for the drivers license.
The next part: If you want to work as a truck driver, you have to make a special course (Berufskraftfahrer-Qualifikation), which allows you to work offially as a truck driver (around 2000-3000 € extra). Without this course you only can driver private and don't earn money with you truck or drive for the ermergency services (there are also some courses)
So you start with costs of ca. 5000-6000€ at start.
The driver's license (for trucks) has to be renewed every 5 years with current certificates and medical certificates (eye test, reaction test), which can also cost around €200 together with some administration fees. This is the situation in Germany, but it should be similar in other parts of the EU.
Classes of licenses: bmdv.bund.de/SharedDocs/EN/Articles/StV/Roadtraffic/driving-licence-categories-overview.html
G'day Ian, here in Australia unfortunately a lot of drivers are similar to U.S. drivers.
Especially around the cities the road rage is very prevalent.
Same in Canada
I realize this comment will be exceedingly long, so read if you are interested in what I have to say:
02:14 I was born in the USA, and have had family there the entire time, but was raised in Norway. Having had the opportunity to visit the USA now and again, I have also been able to drive there.
The only three things I like about driving in the USA are; the speed limits, the use of light crosses at some of the major freeway on-ramps and off-ramps, and the residential cross-sections that have one or two lines motorists have to stop at for each line before entering. I guess I lied, there's also a fourth thing, and that is that in many - if not most? - light intersections you are, by law, supposed to make a right turn on red light if the road is clear, we don't do that in Norway...
Other than those, the quality of roads in Norway are much better than in the USA. One thing I remember vividly disliking about the roads in the USA, especially on the freeways or highways, was how there would seemingly always be that hole or bump in the road, making the car jiggle and/or bounce just a little for every one, it was just so frustrating...
The use of lanes in the USA is so so SO bad, it is practically impossible to drive, let alone change lanes... In Norway we mostly have single, if not dual, landed roads in either direction, but on the dual laned roads most people will stay in the right hand-lane, driving anywhere from the speedlimit to anything under, while those in the left hand-lane will usually be the ones that drive the speedlimit or above, usually no more than 6 to 9 mph above. Once the right hand-lane is clear for a greater distance ahead, the ones driving on the left hand-lane will merge onto the right hand-lane until they come upon another car, or simply as long as it takes for the car behind them to drive past at a faster speed. If people on the left hand-lane use their indicators to indicate that they want to merge onto the right hand-lane, then 9/10 times the people on the right hand-lane will slow down to make ample room for the other car to merge safely, and I honestly do mean 9/10 times.
When there was rush-hour on the freeway in the USA, trying to merge onto the freeway from the on-ramp was practically impossible, everyone seemed to be adopting the "Everyone for themselves!" mentality, not caring at all about others. In Norway, however, generally speaking people on the right hand-lane of a freeway will automatically slow down enough to make plenty of space for merging cars from the on-ramp to safely merge, and we'll do it in a zig-zag sort of pattern where one car merges onto the freeway, then one on the freeway's right hand-lane drives, another merges onto the freeway, then another one on the freeway's right hand-lane drives, so on and so forth.
Speed limits in Norway:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_limits_in_Norway
07:00 The total price (excluding driving hours that they recommend be a total of 100 hours) at a random driver's school I just checked is $2779 for the regular car licence, one 45 minute driving hour at the school costs $79.50, but you are allowed to do learning driving with people you know that has had - and still has - the driver's license for 5 consecutive years and are 21 years old or older, and this would work towards the recommended 100 hours of driving. Including driving hours from the school, it isn't uncommon for people to be spending anywhere between $3022 to $4533 or even more. And adding to that, the $2779 I mentioned assumes that you pass both the theoretical and the practical tests at the Public Roads Administration office, where the Theoretical test has 45 questions you need to have 38 answered correctly within 90 minutes to pass, and the practical test lasts for 65 to 75 minutes of which will include preparing of the vehicle, safety check with randomly selected questions, and the drive itself where you will be given various tasks to complete. The testing is very strict, and two of my friends had to take the theoretical testing more than twice before they passed, but as far as the practical testing and the various faults you may be given by the examiner, you can occasionally manage to explain your way out of a failure, assuming the explanation and reasoning behind your actions and choices are sound.
For instance, I almost didn't pass because:
1) I drove onto a highway from a stand-still on a side-road even though there was a car speeding along on the highway towards me a distance away, I was supposed to wait for the car to pass before making my merge onto the highway, as I may have otherwise hindreded the traffic by making the car on the highway have to slow down.
2) I also sped well past the speedlimit on a long stretch of road when another practical tester had been told to force me into having to abandon my passing by him, eventually managing to force the other tester to slow down and let me successfully pass him by.
3) Then for the third and last fault, I drove primarily with one hand on the wheel instead of two as is required.
When asked about my reasoning for my actions, I explained:
1) I looked both ways to make sure there were no cars coming from the left, and I saw that the car coming towards me from the right was far enough away that, if I merged onto the highway in front of him and quickly accelerated, I would successfully manage to merge all without being a hinder to the traffic, so I took the window.
2) I had clear view the entire time that I kept attempting to pass by the other tester, and seeing as there were no cars coming at me the entire time, I decided to push it until either 1) I managed to pass him by, or 2) I saw another car coming towards me, in which case I would have immediately slowed down my speed and merged back into my lane behind the other tester, or 3) I got too close to the turn at the end of the straight line, in which case I would have done the same as on 2). So it was all done perfectly safe, and I was aware of everything.
3) I didn't even realize that I did that, it just comes natural to me I guess. I find it more comfortable and easier to drive with a single hand than with both hands. Although if the weather had been rainy, windy, or the road wet, icy, snowy, or otherwise slippery and bad conditions, or there was a sharp turn, I would have used both hands on the wheel because I would have more control than with just one hand in those types of scenarios.
The examinier's responses were:
1) The examiner wasn't entirely in agreement with me, but he accepted my reasoning, seeing that I knew what I was doing, had good planning, and didn't put anyone in danger or hinder traffic in any way, so he scratched that off with a little advisement that next time I may want to let the other car pass before merging onto the highway.
2) he realized how well of an understanding I had of the situation the entire time, and agreed that I hadn't done anything inherently dangerous because, as I had mentioned, we had clear view of the road ahead, and there was no cars coming at us, and we would have had ample time to merge into our lane if any car would have come towards us at any time, and thus scratched that off the list. Though he did comment on the fact that I did drive over the speedlimit, and while that isn't necessarily illegal in the situation of executing a pass-by, there are limits to how long a pass-by should last, and so next time I should consider merging back onto my lane behind the other car if it doesn't look like the other car is going to let you pass them by.
3) He completely agreed with me, even going as far as to admit that he, also, mainly drives with just one hand on the wheel, as it is most comfortable for him, too, so he scratched that off the list, too.
12:34 In some countries, there are roads where the only speedlimit they have is the Recommended Speedlimit, but that doesn't mean it is illegal to drive faster, it just means that not driving past that speedlimit is safest for you, and anyone else on the road or in your car. But this is also on the most well maintained and properly built freeways/highways, and I was thinking of the Autobahn in particular. I haven't driven in Europe all that much, but in the Nordic - at least Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, - the speedlimits are generally slower to much slower than the USA.
16:56 I remember one time when I think I was 11 or 12, mom was driving on a freeway in the USA behind a big-rig transporting some kind of housing, when suddenly our car veered sharply and I looked up from my Gameboy, or whatever, to see that my mom had had to veer sharply out of the way to avoid a big metal piece of housing that got loose and would have probably sheered straight through both car, and mom, had we remained where we were behind the big-rig...
In Lithuania (North-eastern Europe) we have two types of highway one is marked with blue signs and the other with - green and both of those have seasonal speed limits in winter (November to April)both are 110km/h ~70mph also winter or M/S tires are mandatory, and summer green is 130kmh ~80 mph, blue one 120kmh ~75mph.
In Finland, you can start your driving lessons at the age of 18, starting with theory about laws & practices you have to take into account on the roads, how speed (&weather conditions) affects how fast you can stop, traffic signs etc. When you start actually driving, you first get familiar with the vehicle, how to start it, set up the mirrors, etc, & slowly crawl it into movement. (Back when I got my license in 2008, manual cars were common to practice with & I think they still might be.) Once the instructor thinks you're ready, you get to join actual traffic. You also have to partake in a 'slippery road' test to prepare you for the winter conditions. There's a course like a mini F1 track where you practice speeding up to a certain speed then slam down the brakes, on dry ground vs this metal sheet that's been sprayed with water. If your car spins, you get to practice how to regain control. You also practice evasive maneuvers in case a moose decides to emerge from the forest. (I failed this part at 1st lol the instructor was to yell MOOSE & I was supposed to evade, but all I did was look around like WHERE💀😂). Where I went for that, we also got to see a stuffed moose to show us how huge they are, & there was also this old white Volvo where you sat down, seat belts on, & a machine would flip the car over to simulate a crash where a car flips, so you get to experience that. Additionally, you practice driving in the dark (this can be done on a simulator). All this cost me 2500€ (had to retake the driving test💀💸, that was 500), plus the paperwork to the police (nowadays you get the license from Traficom) & getting a photo for the licence. Additionally, back then acquiring the license was in 2 stages, after the 1st stage you got a temporary license for maximum of 2 years, & before that time was up you needed to go to the slippery road test again, & pass the dark/night time test (I did mine on a sim, man that sucked lol). I also had to show off to an instructor I still remembered the rules etc. My licence was also originally valid until 2060, but thanks to EU regulations it's now only until Jan 18, 2033. ✨ I love driving, back when I lived in Ireland for a bit I decided against driving there 'cause it felt like a damn wild west especially in the cities (narrow streets, tight corners) & M50 around Dublin 💀 Also wrong side of the road lol.
Ohh yea & in Finland, you can also have a family member teach you to drive instead of going to driving school. Supposedly it's cheaper. Not sure what the requirements are & how theory lessons are handled then.
I like your content - informative and funny.....although not all the countries in europe are so nice to drive. Here in Austria Merc, BMW, Audi drivers tend to think that the passing lane is for them only 😀 but that is a typical austrian thing.....everyone tends to believe that they're more important than the other one on the road (it is more a cultural thing)
haha No. That is BMW, Mercedes and Audi drivers EVERYWHERE :)
Merc, BMW, Audi same here in UK also why do their indicators never work?
Haha totally agree about the Audi, Benz, & BMW drivers 🤣🤣🤣 must be a world phenomenon 😂
@@sjbict if a genie visits me and I get 3 wishes, one of them would be to enchant all their cars in a way that they get 4 flat tires the first time they break a traffic rule.... It would be hilarious to see how many make it to their work in the morning......