UK driving test can you pass it.

[redrider90]

http://www.quizfreak.co.uk/can-you-pass-this-uk-motorway-driving-test/index1.html
I'm American and passed this UK test. I got 10/13 correct and have never been to the UK.
Can you pass this test from those who drive on the wrong side of the road?

[Triple Jim]

I got 12 out of 13 correct.  I didn't know what the green studs on the motorway show.  The guys who made the quiz should learn the difference between breaking and braking.

[redrider90]

I got 12 out of 13 correct.  I didn't know what the green studs on the motorway show.  The guys who made the quiz should learn the difference between breaking and braking.

12/13 when that makes me feel stupid. Hell I thought I was doing great.

[Triple Jim]

I used the same technique I use on US tests like that.  I ask myself what the authorities would say, not what makes sense.   

[pikipiki]

Now try and explain the UK bike test.
Theory test,
Compulsory basic training.
Test.
Retest after 2 years.

I don't know I might have missed something?

[Rough Edge racing]

  9 of 13   a pass

[redrider90]

12/13 when that makes me feel stupid. Hell I thought I was doing great.

I did the same... you were better at it.

[Markcarovilli]

I passed but I still don't want to drive there....

Mark

[Lannis]

I passed but I still don't want to drive there....

Mark

I've ridden motorcycles a few thousand miles there, and it's really not bad.   

First off, most intersections are roundabouts, not traffic lights, so traffic tends to flow better.   Second, UK drivers are far more skilled in simple car-handling than Americans - they actually know where their fenders are, and won't slam on brakes in a panic when passing a bicyclist, for example.   They just drive on by.

And (even on the London circular, the M25, and the big roads like the A2 or M1) people are much more accommodating to motorcycles - there are far more of them than here, and they tend to be proper riders actually dressed out for riding, and using their bike to go somewhere, as opposed to the average rider here.

I enjoy riding in the UK.

Lannis

[johnr]

Managed a score of 9 out of 13. I've never been there either.

[tris]

Now try and explain the UK bike test.
Theory test,
Compulsory basic training.
Test.
Retest after 2 years.

I don't know I might have missed something?

1 Tests basic rules of the road and hazard awareness
2 Checks that you have the basic skills to ride a moped . If you don't then take your full test then you have to take this again.Mainly aimed  at the youngsters
3 It's change abit since I did my test but IIRC If under 21 you do your A2 test that allows you to ride bikes up t 33Kw I think if and when you get to 21 can ride fully power machines. If over 21 I think you can still do direct access that allows you to go straight to full power or do th A2 route

HTH

[azguzzirep]

12/13  never been there, either .😑

On my German driving test, the written one, I missed one question because I thought it was a trick question.

The situation was, you are about to enter onto a freeway but there is a lorry in the lane. What do you do?

A) speed up and get in front of it? or,

B) slow down and fall in behind it?

I chose B. That choice cost me two points off my test. You can only miss four points, then you have to retest another time.

[Mr Pootle]

The quiz in the link isn't an official driving test. It's something put together by person or persons unknown to check your knowledge of the rules for driving on motorways.
You do have to take a theory exam, and also pass a practical driving test.  And as Pikipiki says, for motorcyclists there's also the CBT. This is carried out on private land, before you're allowed onto the highway, and should be a doddle. But a friend of mine, a Lambretta rider back in the 60s, but who'd never taken his test then, decided he'd buy a Harley on his retirement. He failed the CBT twice, and gave up on the idea of biking. And my cousin's 17 year old daughter failed because she popped a wheelie on the way back to the start after negotiating the cones. She was already the British motorcycle sprint champion before she was old enough to ride on the road.

[tris]

I've ridden motorcycles a few thousand miles there, and it's really not bad.   

First off, most intersections are roundabouts, not traffic lights, so traffic tends to flow better.   Second, UK drivers are far more skilled in simple car-handling than Americans - they actually know where their fenders are, and won't slam on brakes in a panic when passing a bicyclist, for example.   They just drive on by.

And (even on the London circular, the M25, and the big roads like the A2 or M1) people are much more accommodating to motorcycles - there are far more of them than here, and they tend to be proper riders actually dressed out for riding, and using their bike to go somewhere, as opposed to the average rider here.

I enjoy riding in the UK.

Lannis

That's interesting Lannis as my experience of driving in your part of the world is that they are much more polite and less aggressive. Too many of the drivers here are complete Muppets IMO

M25 counts as "London Driving" and compared to where i live very different - if you don't make decisions in London you don't go anywhere!!

Funnily I heard the other day that Italian drivers rated themselves as the worst drivers in Europe. 
I see the Italians as fast but confident/competent even if some of the interpretation of lane discipline in Naples for example is, shall we say, "creative"   

[Old Jock]

Refuse to do it as I'd probably fail 

Totally agree with Tris, on his perceptions of UK, US & Eye-talyun drivers.

When I asked about the laid back, courteous approach in the US I got the reply from a co-worker, well you never know whose carrying 

Italy I found the North completely different from the South. The South could be very chaotic and the standards not so good. The North disciplined and fast, better know how to drive and where you're going or it won't end well

John

[Lannis]

That's interesting Lannis as my experience of driving in your part of the world is that they are much more polite and less aggressive. Too many of the drivers here are complete Muppets IMO

Just as a "for example", roundabouts work well in the UK because you can SEE the "give and take" happening .... yield to traffic in the circle coming from your right, merge in, find the appropriate lane, and merge out.    You speed up or slow down a little, the other guy speeds up or slows down a little, and it all works.   In the US, there's the "I've got to BEAT you" attitude, and traffic circles end up being a chaotic mess because there's no "give and take", only "take", and nobody knows how to use them anyhow.   

And heaven help us on a divided highway when one lane is closed ahead.    People don't merge into the other lane as available, and everything goes smooth and traffic moves on .... nooooo, that would be letting someone BEAT you, the technique is to stay in the lane that's going to close until you get to the barrier, then just turn your steering wheel and make people slam on brakes and the whole line stops ... but hey, they BEAT everyone else.

Don't see much of that in the UK.   On the other hand, I've got about 8,000 miles in the UK and about a million in the US, so maybe I just see too much of it over here, maybe some "grass is greener" going on ....

Lannis

[Mr Pootle]

   And heaven help us on a divided highway when one lane is closed ahead.    People don't merge into the other lane as available, and everything goes smooth and traffic moves on .... nooooo, that would be letting someone BEAT you, the technique is to stay in the lane that's going to close until you get to the barrier, then just turn your steering wheel and make people slam on brakes and the whole line stops ... but hey, they BEAT everyone else.

Don't see much of that in the UK.   On the other hand, I've got about 8,000 miles in the UK and about a million in the US, so maybe I just see too much of it over here, maybe some "grass is greener" going on ....

Lannis

Roundabouts work well, but we behave like you when a lane closes. Everyone needs to be at the front. The worst offenders are Audi drivers. Their lack of road courtesy is legendary over here.
And the most pointless job in the motor industry? Fitting indicators to Audis.

[Triple Jim]

12/13  never been there, either .😑

On my German driving test, the written one, I missed one question because I thought it was a trick question.

The situation was, you are about to enter onto a freeway but there is a lorry in the lane. What do you do?

A) speed up and get in front of it? or,

B) slow down and fall in behind it?

I chose B. That choice cost me two points off my test. You can only miss four points, then you have to retest another time.

That seems like a case of trying to get the test subjects to miss at least one question so they don't go away with the idea that they know everything.  The written motorcycle test in North Carolina had one that was oddly worded and trapped me, and I think it was intentional.  I just chuckled and accepted my passing score. 

[Old Jock]

And the most pointless job in the motor industry? Fitting indicators to Audis.

Think it was James May who was referring to the very aggressive tailgating behavior of Audi drivers on motorways to intimidate the car in front to move out their way................ ......"it's what Audi owners think their front parking sensors are for"

Agree with all the comments, roundabouts are in the main pretty well behaved in the UK (there are exceptions), but have a lane closure and the exec saloons see it as a race to the cones.
 

[Xlratr]

Roundabouts work well, but we behave like you when a lane closes. Everyone needs to be at the front. The worst offenders are Audi drivers. Their lack of road courtesy is legendary over here.
And the most pointless job in the motor industry? Fitting indicators to Audis.

But driving to the point of closure in a closed lane is the only logical thing to do. That's the rule here in Germany. Both lanes are used to the full and at the point of closure the traffic should merge "zipper" style. Moving across earlier just results in braking and impeding the traffic behind.


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[redrider90]

That's interesting Lannis as my experience of driving in your part of the world is that they are much more polite and less aggressive.

Surely you jest. Have you ever driven in Chicago?

[Lannis]

But driving to the point of closure in a closed lane is the only logical thing to do. That's the rule here in Germany. Both lanes are used to the full and at the point of closure the traffic should merge "zipper" style. Moving across earlier just results in braking and impeding the traffic behind.

I doubt it.   Here, the only way it runs smoothly is for a semi in the closing lane to get up next to another semi in the "through" lane, and run the same speed as him until his buddy lets him merge at the cones.   That way, traffic is forced to merge "zipper" style (as you say) over the last half mile or so, and not just some asshole running as fast as he can go up to the cones, then forcing his way in, which is what happens normally ....  That simply results in massive traffic jams.

Lannis

[Chuck in Indiana]

I've ridden motorcycles a few thousand miles there, and it's really not bad.   

First off, most intersections are roundabouts, not traffic lights, so traffic tends to flow better.   Second, UK drivers are far more skilled in simple car-handling than Americans - they actually know where their fenders are, and won't slam on brakes in a panic when passing a bicyclist, for example.   They just drive on by.

And (even on the London circular, the M25, and the big roads like the A2 or M1) people are much more accommodating to motorcycles - there are far more of them than here, and they tend to be proper riders actually dressed out for riding, and using their bike to go somewhere, as opposed to the average rider here.

I enjoy riding in the UK.

Lannis

Agreed.

[Xlratr]

I doubt it.   Here, the only way it runs smoothly is for a semi in the closing lane to get up next to another semi in the "through" lane, and run the same speed as him until his buddy lets him merge at the cones.   That way, traffic is forced to merge "zipper" style (as you say) over the last half mile or so, and not just some asshole running as fast as he can go up to the cones, then forcing his way in, which is what happens normally ....  That simply results in massive traffic jams.

Lannis

But why is someone an asshole for using the road up to the cones? Everybody should! Merging earlier doesn't make sense.


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[Mr Pootle]

If everyone merged smoothly while the traffic is still moving at a reasonable speed, it's fine. But shooting past slower traffic, then cutting in at the last minute causes the follow you've cut in ahead to brake. This has the knock-on effect of everyone further back braking, till eventually, half a mile back, the line comes to a halt.
If you anticipate that you'll soon need to move into the left (or right, for the foreigners here) lane, and do it properly, the traffic keeps moving at speed.

[tris]

But why is someone an asshole for using the road up to the cones? Everybody should! Merging earlier doesn't make sense.


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In principle I agree with you,  i.e. use all lanes for as long as possible, but what we tend to see here is that many people move over reasonably earlier and then some (Jags, Audis and BMWs to stereotype  ) zoom down the outside lane to get to the front.

I suspect that its the speed differential that gets peoples backs up

If we all cruised up to the restriction at the same/similar speed and then "zippered" life would be less stressful. However, until we're all in driver less cars controlled by big brother that's unlikely to happen

[Xlratr]

In principle I agree with you,  i.e. use all lanes for as long as possible, but what we tend to see here is that many people move over reasonably earlier and then some (Jags, Audis and BMWs to stereotype  ) zoom down the outside lane to get to the front.

I suspect that its the speed differential that gets peoples backs up

If we all cruised up to the restriction at the same/similar speed and then "zippered" life would be less stressful. However, until we're all in driver less cars controlled by big brother that's unlikely to happen

It works fine here. You get a sign like the one below telling you to merge in zipper fashion. You sometimes even get a sign to NOT do it yet, but in  200 metres (use all the road).



This is what happens if you do it too early. Wasted space and unnecessary braking and blocking.




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[Lannis]

It works fine here. You get a sign like the one below telling you to merge in zipper fashion. You sometimes even get a sign to NOT do it yet, but in  200 metres (use all the road).

I believe you.   German mentality on the road is different than Americans, just like English driving is different.    I suspect that it works there because the German driver WILL merge into the other lane BEHIND someone else, in zipper fashion.

The American will NOT.   If there is another car he can get in front of before he merges, he will do it ... because that is one more person that he BEAT.

Driving home on I-81 last Sunday, 70 MPH speed limit, I am in the left (passing) lane at the same speed as the rest of the traffic in that lane, running about 80 - 85 MPH.    I keep a 2 second gap between me and the person in front of me.    Even though there is MILES of traffic ahead of me in the left lane, there will always be someone behind me, tailgating, pushing.    There is a solid line of traffic in the right lane, and you cannot pull over safely.   

But even if there is a tiny, unsafe gap on the right, the person behind will swerve, accelerate, pass on the right, force their way in front of me, and tailgate the person in front of me.    I'll be behind him for 20 miles, as he has only gained 50 feet with his pass.   

He has met his goal.  He has BEAT ME!   He's a hero in his own mind.

I'll just bet (even though I've never driven one) that that is NOT the way an Autobahn works .... !

Lannis

[tris]

I find that more and more on the motorway I'll stick the car on cruise control at 69 MPH just under the legal limit in the inside lane and let all the Muppets drive around me in the other 2 lanes

You can go many many miles like that until you come across the King of Muppets doing 65 in the middle lane in case he comes across somebody doing 64 in the next 40 miles. In which case you have to go out 2 lanes and back to get around him

He's one of those individuals that should have failed his test as the Law here still says
a) You must drive in the inside lane UNLESS you're overtaking
b) It is ILLEGAL to overtake on the inside unless the traffic in the outer lanes is stationary or slower than the inner lane 

I know this 'cos 3 months ago I was seeing such a lot of bad driving I bought a copy of the latest Highway Code book to see if the law had changed since I did my test 30 years ago ..... It Hadn't!

RANT OVER 

[Lannis]

He's one of those individuals that should have failed his test as the Law here still says
a) You must drive in the inside lane UNLESS you're overtaking
b) It is ILLEGAL to overtake on the inside unless the traffic in the outer lanes is stationary or slower than the inner lane 

I know this 'cos 3 months ago I was seeing such a lot of bad driving I bought a copy of the latest Highway Code book to see if the law had changed since I did my test 30 years ago ..... It Hadn't!

I think a lot of it has to do with "enforcement".   I'm sure we have similar laws (they vary by state) here in the US about when you should or should not be in the "passing lane", or about passing on the right (the "wrong" side).

But when a law (like a speed limit law on the Interstate, or which lane to drive in) is NEVER enforced, EVER, under ANY circumstances unless the LEO knows that the driver is a drug courier and is looking for a reason to pull him .... then no one is going to pay attention to the law, or even have a reason for knowing it existed.   Once you've got your license here, you literally have to kill someone before anyone looks at whether you're fit to drive or not.

Lannis