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Comment by kiiski | Hacker News Reader

So I suppose in Finland these would be driving on ice x2, and the night driving simulator (at least in my case). Are you sure that tunnels are a part of the standard? I didn't need to do that ~5 years ago.

Is the education split into three seperate parts in all EU countries (first gives a temporary license, and there must be a few months before the others (to get real world driving experience), but all must be done withing 2 years)? When I got my license, the education cost about 2500 euros (I think it's higher now). Is that about the same as elsewhere in the EU?

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In Denmark you get a full licence the first time you pass. But in practical terms, authorities (and insurance and car rental companies) look 'harsher' on newer drivers. But legally there is no temporary licence (except the licence you get the day you pass, which is just temporary until your actual licence is delivered in the mail).

I know tunnels was required in 2011, but the teacher also seemed to indicate that it was a recent change.

I never used a simulator, night driving meant driving at night. Taking a bus driving licence was mostly the same ordeal, although there is some extra focus in the theory about how a bus works and what requirements it has.

When I took my B-category driving licence, it cost about 6500 DKK (about 880 euros). But that was a big driving school, I also see prices at 8000 DKK (about 1075 euros). Fortunately, my bus driving licence was subsidised (so I only paid 3600 DKK (480 euros)), otherwise it would have cost 31000 DKK (4180 euros).

But I hear Finland is unbelievable expensive.

Perhaps "unbelievable" is an exaggeration, but Finland is more expensive. A license to drive a normal car ("B" category license) costs between 1500 and 2000 euros in a driving school (for the initial phase, which gives a temp license valid for 2 years). Then around 400 euros for the second phase which must be done after 6 to 24 months.

But fortunately a family member (or similar) can also teach, with just a few mandatory lessons at "facilities". This way, the cost is around 500 euros (if you don't include the car and fuel costs when driving the mandatory 20 half-hour lessons.)

(License categories are the same in all of EU I think: A is for motorcycles, B a car, C a lorry, D a bus, E a trailer, with sub-divisions like A1 and A2 for different power classes of motorcycles etc; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver%27s_license#mediaviewer/...).

In Finland, licenses were about to become very expensive last year after a law change that was lobbied by driving schools - that effectively made it impossible to teach your own family members to drive. But after seeing the ripping-off by driving schools, and also after extensive protests by the public, the government (unbelievably) backed down and changed the rules back so that teaching a family member is again feasible. My third kid is soon ready for the driving test...

BTW people say that it's a great test of trust and co-operation between a parent and a teenager to try to teach a young one to drive. For me this has fortunately gone very well.

Germany: My wife got her license rather late, recently. The costs were roughly the same (for "B"). You're on a two year 'probation' period. Any offense that would lead to an entry in our "You did something wrong and we're awarding you points for that" database means that you'll lose your license - with a well-defined process to restart / try to recover it. This includes speeding over a certain limit (say, 20km/h over the limit in towns for example) or running a red light, ignoring a stop sign etc.. All of these are - in theory, if you're caught, instant reasons to lose your license.

We don't have costs after the 2 years though, the license just graduates and becomes permanent. Now you'd receive a certain number of points for the offenses listed above and there are limits that might require you to take driving lessons again or - in bad cases - might again lead to the loss of your license.

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