[johannes1234321]

In Germany you have to take theory lessons and test as well as practical lessons including some time highway (Autobahn) and at night. In the end there is a practical test, which (from anecdotal observation) a notable amount of people fail on first attempt.

But once you have the license you can drive on highways without speed limits, where safety and following rules is important (while the free ride is a bit of a myth - many segments have speed limits, there is lots of traffic limiting speed and in case of an accident insurance restrict payment when going fast)

[lovemenot]

>> Drivers Ed is required to pass high school,

Really? Now I realise why some Americans looked so confused and dismayed when I was living there without having ever learned to drive.

So there's nobody from USA who chooses to have an education, and not to drive a car?

[fotbr]

Drivers Ed was an optional summer course in my district, and did include an on-road component. Not required at all (although the insurance company gave a discount for completing it).

HS graduation requirements vary (in some cases, much more than you would think) between districts. Usually, each town/city has its own district -- in rural areas a district may span many towns, in more urban areas, you may have more than one district in a single city. There are state guidelines, but we also have 50 different states. Federal guidelines are pretty sparse, and often only enforced by accepting funding -- don't take their money and you don't have to play by their rules.

I suspect that there is no blanket statement about the US public school system that will hold true nationwide (except, perhaps "it could be better" or "it makes no sense").

The reaction to not having a license is probably simply due to 60+ years of "The American Dream" for a kid was having their own car and the freedom^tm that came with it, and the simple fact that in the majority of the country, public transportation is crap, and our cities are not designed around walking. So a car, and license, is pretty much a requirement.

[dhosek]

It varies by state. In Illinois, Drivers Ed is required to graduate high school (exemptions for, e.g., visually impaired persons were not introduced until the 80s iirc). Illinois has some weird requirements for education. Except for the Chicago public school district, four years of P.E. is also required for graduation which really annoyed me because I would rather have had that time slot to take academic classes.

[Scoundreller]

> Except for the Chicago public school district, four years of P.E. is also required for graduation

A lot of people would argue this is very good policy.

[ghaff]

I'm not sure it's universally true. I didn't but that was years ago at a private school and I still took a summer Drivers Ed class for insurance reasons.

Given that most students do get a drivers license, it wouldn't be surprising if Drivers Ed were a mandatory part of some high school curricula. Note that this is probably just the theory part in most cases and doesn't include actual on the road instruction. (Which is typically done by parents or by a company--the latter again in part for insurance price reasons.)

[elamje]

I don’t see what you are quoting. That is not the case in Texas and I’m pretty sure other states as well.

[jacquesm]

Wrong comment thread?

[benibela]

I failed the test three times in Germany. After the second time I switched school, and basically had to start from scratch. Probably ended up costing me 5000€ or close to 10000€. And since that was in 2009, with the perfect time to put everything in the stock market, the opportunity costs were like 100000€.

[vinni2]

Wow! I thought I spent a lot when it costed me 2000€ after failing once. Now I feel lucky. But most German kids pass first time.

[johannes1234321]

I was curious about the "most pass" as I know so many stories of people who failed (I passed on first attempt myself)

First article I found from 2018, citing numbers from 2017, says 37% fail theory, 28% during practical test, which is quite a lot, considering that you have extra training lessons and instructors should know what's being tested (conspiracy theory would be: failed test leads to more lessons and more fees) https://m.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/panorama/knapp-37-pro...