An American tribute to British drivers

[B' Spokes: To make more of point I included (in the read more) a table of road fatality rates per population sorted by the lowest to highest stopping when I came to the U.S.. Or straight to my point, better education makes better drivers.]

The United States and the United Kingdom have many important similarities, but a rigorous driving test is not one of them.

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To get my American license when I was 16 years old, I had to take a very short multiple choice theory test. Having not studied and never driven, I passed easily. Then I took a practical test that consisted of a 15-minute amble through a flat rural area. I performed poorly, and at the end of my test the examiner turned to me and said, "You really don't know what you're doin', do ya?" And he passed me.

I initially assumed the UK test was comparable to the one across the pond. But then I read that the large majority of UK motorists fail their first driving exam. And I heard horror stories of Americans and other foreigners failing multiple times. I began to study (or "revise" as you Brits say) in earnest.

I'm a doctoral student at Cambridge, and I'm quite sure I prepared much more for my driving tests than I will for my PhD viva next year.

A UK license is basically a PhD in driving.

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