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Comment by chadgeidel | Hacker News Reader

I'm sure you hear this all the time, but it's my understanding that US drivers are not nearly as well "trained" as German drivers. Anecdata, yes yes. It's trivially easy to acquire and maintain a driving permit here in the States, and it shows.

(US citizen here - I don't know about German drivers, but of course the skills of Germans are legendary. The automotive media tells us all German drivers are as skilled as Walter Röhrl. I'm only partially kidding.)

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Ding ding ding! The solution is better driver training and mandatory retesting for all drivers at regular intervals. So many drivers of all ages are absolutely terrible. Everyone should be able to go 85 MPH on a six lane highway but you can't because there are so many bad drivers.

Driving is not a right and it should not be treated that way.

There is some truth to that, we have more training: 14x 45min of theory school-style lessons and at least 12x 45min of practice with a certified driving instructor. Also, the minimum age to be driving on the road is 17, and you have to be accompanied by someone 21+ until you are 18.

The skills here are not legendary per se; the mean might be a bit better. The difference is that people seem to have more respect for other drivers and dangers on the road, creating more awareness overall.

But still, I think allowing skilled drivers to drive faster would do no harm to the population, if the faster people stick to the guidelines. For example: you do see the occasional snail moving in the left highway lane, but it won't be long until he is ushered away by some faster car with some furious flashes of the brights.

There are also very high standards (strict regular inspections) regarding vehicle maintenance. US citizens would never put up with that.

they're not that much better, you still have seniors, old ladies in a hat, etc. driving.

the initial steps to obtain a driver's license are much harder than in the US, that's correct.

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