Add to that, the signage is bad.
[INDENT]This is the only sign before the interchange: https://maps.app.goo.gl/oi85DfRVoaBuK3Ay8 -- This is in a bad location because it's right where the lanes from Crowchild join Glenmore, so there are already distractions in place, making it easy to miss the sign. Also, it could be improved by adding information about which lanes continue as Glenmore eastbound.
They actually did add a sign to this spot showing Glenmore lanes. I saw it a month ago.
Since 2023, a road test is no longer required to obtain a Class 4 in Alberta.
That...sounds dumb. It's almost like ensuring drivers transporting paying customers and on the road all day should have to prove some standard of ability, considering the safety aspects of it. Probably some red tape we should have kept around.
Probably Uber lobbying got it changed, gotta get their crappy drivers somewhere.
I swear that half the time I see a driver doing something stupid/annoying/dangerous theres an Uber sticker on the car.
Probably Uber lobbying got it changed, gotta get their crappy drivers somewhere.
I swear that half the time I see a driver doing something stupid/annoying/dangerous theres an Uber sticker on the car.
More than half, Uber A- / O- plates get zero sympathy or leeway from me now. Worst drivers on the roads by a mile.
__________________
-James
GO FLAMES GO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azure
Typical dumb take.
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I was talking to our very on Josef's kid about this last time he visited from Germany. The process they go through to get a licence doesn't even resemble ours, and prospective drivers are held to a standard from a different universe than North America.
Theory for me consisted of 12 mandatory modules and 2 voluntary modules, but I had to be attending 14 modules in total in order to be eligible for taking the theory test. Meaning I could either simply visit all modules or skip the voluntary ones and revisit a mandatory module which I might considered worth taking again. Lessons were bi-weekly, Tuesday and Thursday from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM. You could take your time and only come once a week, or even every other week or however slow you wanted to take it, it was just important to in the end have visited 14 modules.
Whats the difference between voluntary and mandatory? The two voluntary modules were mostly about working on your car, how to change fluids, change tires, other super basic maintenance and also just looking at the technical side of how cars work in general. Since not everyone is made out to be a car enthusiast, those are voluntary.
Mandatory modules were all about dangers and of course the rules of driving. Whats right of way? What do traffic signs mean? How do you act upon reaching a site of an accident? What are the penalties for DUI? How does our driving offense register work? etc. etc.
Those were all usually powerpoint slides with the occasional video thrown in. Those videos in particular could be quite weird. Often they were used to bring awareness to the consequences of reckless driving. My instructors favourite video was video footage of a ghost driver colliding with another car at 200 kph. It was brutal and it was meant to shock us into awareness.
The theoretical test was conducted at an office of the TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein aka Association for Technical Inspection) and consisted of 40 multiple choice questions regarding anything and everything that you learn in the theory lessons. You are allowed up to 10 mistakes, otherwise you fail. Different kind of mistakes are weighed differently. They draw from a pool of 900 questions which were readily available to check up online or in an app. Technically you could just literally memorize them all, but good luck with that.
An example for a theory test question might be:
You are approaching an intersection with a Stop sign. How do you act?
A. I just drive because people will stop and brake if they see me pulling out anyway.
B. I slowly creep up to the intersection and drive if I see no oncoming traffic.
C. I pull to a full stop, observe my environment, then drive when the way is clear.
If you answered A, you would get a full penalty of 3 points because its a major mistake. Youd get a penalty of 1 for answering B and only pass when answering C. There is also a very few quintessential questions that might end up in outright failure of the test if you answer incorrectly. Spoiler alert, I failed my first theoretical test too by having 12 mistakes. I passed the second time by scraping by with 10 mistakes.
Onto the actual practical drivers ed. Practical ed consists of 30 regular training sessions each taking 45 minutes. However most instructors consider 45 minutes to be too short, so they usually pull double sessions for 90 mins, effectively cutting it down to only 15 regular training sessions. Regular training sessions usually consist of city driving, learning to park, acting correctly in traffic and learning the practical application of traffic signs. Your instructor usually picks you up either from home or from the driving school office and you will be driving a car owned by the school. It will be manual unless you ASK for automatic. For me it was a VW Tiguan 2.0L TDI.
In addition to 30 regular sessions there is also 12 special sessions. Those consist of:
3 Night driving sessions
3 Autobahn (Highway) sessions
6 "Overland" (country road) sessions
Each of those areas are considered special compared to city driving so they require their own separate lessons, like how to drive at night with limited visibility and the rush of the highway.
Once your driving instructor considers you ready for your practical drivers test, he will sign you up. Do note that if you are having difficulties with driving, you might be assigned more than 30 sessions.
The practical drivers test is also conducted by the TÜV, with your instructor in attendance. Its a 45 minute drive that is supposed to consist of many standard situations that can happen in everday driving. Meaning you will have to properly pass a parking test, a piece of highway/country road driving, doing an emergency braking maneuver at 30 kph to come to a full stop and of course read traffic correctly, this time without your instructors help. Mileage may vary depending on the examiner you get, since its up to their discretion whether some maneuvers you pull are a mistake or not. Spoiler alert, I failed my first practical driving test by Rotverstoß, aka driving over a red light. Shame on me. Second test my examiner missed me swerving into the oncoming lane by taking a too wide angle during a turn, which couldve been another failure.
Once you pass, you can directly visit the nearest TÜV office to get your drivers license printed. Congrats, you can now #### up german roads!
Now onto the costs. Up front, I paid around 2500€ for my entire education, but that was including failing both my theory and practical once. Signing up again costs you, as well as additional regular driving lessons to basically focus on the parts that went bad during the test. Costs also slightly vary between german states and the driving school you attended.
Sight test, First Aid Course: 35€
Initial Up front payment: 250€
Learning materials (voluntary, can just dl an app): 50€
30 Regular driving lessons: 30 x 37,5€ = 1125€
12 Special driving lessons: 12 x 45€ = 540€
Admission to theoretical test: 50€
Admission to practical test: 110€
Printing of your license: 35€
Sum = 2195€
As you can see, its pretty expensive. Even without failing you easily spend over 2000 bucks. But thats what I meant when I said having a license in germany is more of a privilege than a right.
It took me 8 months to get my license. 2 months of attending theory, then 6 months of practical driving. I usually only got in about 5-6 sessions a month due to my instructors tight schedule, which extended my time considerably.
More than half, Uber A- / O- plates get zero sympathy or leeway from me now. Worst drivers on the roads by a mile.
You know, 90% of the time these Uber/Skip/Doordash drivers are not watching the road while they drive. They are most likely looking at the GPS on their 4" phone screens or fiddling around 3 cellphones trying to find their next order, and at the same time yelling and screaming at their wives/kids through their earbuds...
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I wonder if there’s some moral justification in refusing to tip delivery drivers (Skip, Uber, etc) on the basis that, in all likelihood, they’re probably terrible drivers who have broken x number of laws on the road. I’ve never not tipped, but you know, every time I see an X-XXXXX license plate act like an idiot (which is daily) I do think about the implication…
I’m also usually too cheap to eat the surcharge anyway so I usually just go get whatever myself. But the implication…
I wonder if there’s some moral justification in refusing to tip delivery drivers (Skip, Uber, etc) on the basis that, in all likelihood, they’re probably terrible drivers who have broken x number of laws on the road. I’ve never not tipped, but you know, every time I see an X-XXXXX license plate act like an idiot (which is daily) I do think about the implication…
I’m also usually too cheap to eat the surcharge anyway so I usually just go get whatever myself. But the implication…
Put "tip upon delivery" and leave a $10 bill tucked in the door for them when they drop off your food... half of the time, they won't even notice it. You can't feel guilty if you offered a tip and they didn't take it due to their own inattentiveness (which would likely translate to the road as well).
I wonder if there’s some moral justification in refusing to tip delivery drivers (Skip, Uber, etc) on the basis that, in all likelihood, they’re probably terrible drivers who have broken x number of laws on the road. I’ve never not tipped, but you know, every time I see an X-XXXXX license plate act like an idiot (which is daily) I do think about the implication…
I’m also usually too cheap to eat the surcharge anyway so I usually just go get whatever myself. But the implication…
about a year ago I removed a tip from a very big order because when I grabbed my food I saw the driver pull an illegal U-turn to drive the wrong way down the one way road I lived on
