[croon]

Maybe unpopular, but US drivers are in general really bad because the drivers tests are too easy and taken when you're younger.

It's driven (no pun intended) by a culture around cars and driving being a right, without consideration for whether everyone should.

[nivenkos]

But driving in the US is much, much easier than most of Europe.

Like a small city in Calfornia vs. Barcelona was a world of difference. The US has lots of wide, straight roads instead of the nightmare of one-way streets, bus lanes, bike lanes, mopeds and motorcycles etc. in Europe.

[Zak]

As an American currently living in Europe, who has driven in almost every US state and over half the countries in the EU, I don't fully agree. Driving in the US may be easier in the sense of requiring less cognitive load most of the time, but that doesn't translate into lower risk.

The challenges are different, but the probability of a fatal collision is higher in the US, whether per person or per vehicle, than in most EU countries. This doesn't surprise me, and it's not just due to driver training.

Navigating small streets built before cars is very likely to lead to broken side mirrors and scratched paint, but not injury or death. Misusing a bus lane gets you angry honking and gesturing from bus drivers and maybe a ticket from the police, but not injured or killed. A low-speed car-on-moped collision is bad of course, but not as bad as a car on one of those wide, straight American roads running a red light at 60 MPH and crashing into your driver's door at a right angle.

Here's a study with evidence that very wide lanes result in people driving faster and crashing more frequently, a particularly bad combination for safety.

https://www.academia.edu/12488747/Narrower_Lanes_Safer_Stree...

[MathCodeLove]

Extremely true. I lived in Italy for 2 years and driving there was a nightmare, I feel as if I can easily conquer any road in the US now.