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I travel a lot by motorcycle. You can truly see the difference in driver training between countries. It goes from German to murderous. Unsurprisingly, German driving tests are fairly thorough.

In New South Wales most learner drivers require 120 hours on the road before they can take the test, far in excess of the 45 hour requirement for private pilots.

Here in the UK, we have the Light Aircraft Pilot's Licence, with lower requirements than the ordinary PPL.

The US also has a light sport aircraft (LSA) category and a sport pilot license with less requirements but more restrictions.

While the 40 hours is a minimum, most people require more to complete their PPL training and pass their exam.

Some aircraft do not require a pilot license but I’m hard pressed for good reasons to fly without prior training.

We'd probably have far more investment in public transport, for one.