These Are The Easiest Places To Get Your License

“The small town in Massachusetts where my wife got her license. No parallel parking or complicated situations of any kind. From what I recall she basically had to drive around the block.

“She told me a story of someone she knew getting his motorcycle license there. He rode the motorcycle to the test site and the instructor told him if he could ride the bike there without crashing it he obviously was qualified to have a license, and granted it on the spot.

“As for cars, I have no idea what she used. Me, I drove my dad’s Toyota Paseo. My mom was offended that I didn’t choose her car for it... but she had a station wagon. I figured I’d have a much easier time parallel parking a tiny coupe instead. I passed on my first try but the instructor docked me two points for “clutch usage” and never told me why. Joke’s on him, 25 years later I’m still driving a manual.”

A recent study claimed that the Massachusetts driving test was one of the hardest in the US. But, that isn’t a picture painted by this poster.

These days, the test requires you to parallel park, drive in traffic, back up and complete a three-point turn.

Suggested by: skuhnphoto

“Nigeria. Cost me 500 Naira (about $3 at the time). That was it. I learned to drive in Sudan when I was 15 years old. I don’t remember there being any license.

“When I got my Florida license (I have a UK licence too) the test took 5 mins in the parking lot and the tester said, ‘You European guys really know how to drive stick’.”

In order to get your license in Nigeria, you need to be prepared to answer a few hard-hitting questions like, “Who was the first person to obtain a driver’s license in the world?”

Suggested by: Ross McGregor (Facebook)

“I took mine in Texas, not hard but not super simple. If you’re under 18 you have to take a driving school class, can’t remember how many hours it was this was back in 1996, plus x number of hours on road with an instructor.

“Then you go to the DMV take a written test and boom, done. I think if you haven’t taken a driving class, pretty much everyone does, there is an actual on road test done at the DMV.”

In Texas, the test is designed to examine your control, observation, positioning and signaling while driving. And I’d say that these should be the minimum requirements for anybody being let loose on the roads.

Suggested by: liffie420

“90's North Arkansas, drove around the block. No parallel parking even. Motorcycle endorsement was to go to the end of the parking lot and back shifting gears without putting your feet down. Granted it was also at the whim of Ol’ Combover the state bull who had a super bad attitude. He constantly called teens trash or whores and put in the wrong scantron key when you took your written test.”

Apparently, 46 percent of participants fail their written test in Arkansas, and that’s before they’ve even set foot behind the wheel of a car. As well as the written test, there is also a practical test designed to examine your abilities on the road.

Suggested by: Shawn Scott (Facebook)

“New Hampshire was (not sure if still is) pretty easy. As long as you were over 18, you didn’t need to go to driver’s ed. Just show up, answer a short multiple choice test, then drive the test giver around in your parent’s car for five minutes to show you know how to use stop signs and traffic lights, then back in to one parking space. No parallel parking, no highways, etc.”

These days, if young drivers in the state of New Hampshire want to get a driver’s license, they need to rack up 30 hours of classroom instruction, 10 hours of practice driving with an instructor and six hours of driving observation.

Suggested by: stalephish

“New Orleans, 1955. My dad goes downtown for his test. Driving test administrator gets in the car, tells him to drive to the first corner and turn right. Then turn right at the next corner. Right again at the third corner. And then right one more time, and stop where they had just started. Test complete, license issued. He’s 81 now and has never been in an accident (where he was at fault) in his whole life.”

In Louisiana, it’s an instant failure on your road test if you run a red light, fail to stop at a stop sign, cause an accident, refuse to follow instructions or get caught speeding. That should probably be the case in every state.

Suggested by: Matt Smith (Facebook)

“Malaysia.

“True story. A friend of mine got his license by driving up the road, and then back, and then buying the tester a coffee afterwards.”

Honestly, I think I’d rather sit a test than have to take my examiner out for a coffee.

But thankfully, times have changed, and there’s now a raft of tests and levels you need to progress through if you want to drive in Malaysia. This includes learning to drive on a learner permit, passing your road test to obtain a probationary license and upgrading to a competent license after two years behind the wheel.

Suggested by: bencars

“The easiest place to get a license has to be New Jersey... I know that because every time there’s some fuckery occurring on the roads, the problem could be traced to a car wielding NJ tags about 98% of the time.”

Jalopnik’s own Andrew Kalmowitz passed his test in New Jersey. He had this to say on the matter, “The controlled chaos of being a New Jersey driver only works in one place: New Jersey.

“We were not taught how to interact with drivers from other states in our lessons. We were taught how to drive in New Jersey. My suggestion? Stay out of the way because we’ve got somewhere to be right now. It’s best if you work around us, because we aren’t going to work around you.”

Suggested by: shanepj13

“California test was incredibly easy. We drove through a neighborhood, got on the freeway, hit the next ramp, he asked me a few questions and I answered them correctly, turned around and we were done. He asked if I knew how to parallel park and marked it as a pass and I was done.”

In California, the test is around 20 minutes and covers left and right turns, stopping at intersections, reversing, changing lanes, driving on regular streets and navigating the freeway.

Suggested by: @kkhickey916 (Twitter)

“I took my driving license in France, it is not that hard but not easy too. I passed it in 2009. I went through what they call apprenticeship learning. At 16, I took theory lesson about driving rules, then passed a theory test with 40 questions and you’re allowed only 5 errors.

“Then you have to have about 20h of driving lessons with a driving school. Then you have two years to drive at least 3,000 km with an adult. When 18, you can pass the driving test, 30mn city driving with the driving school car and a state inspector. I missed the first time for being too slow... Got it the second time. No driving error allowed, like priorities etc.

“My driving school had 206 1.4i without A/C, when I took the test they had switched to 1.5 DCI Clio III.

“IMO, it lacks emergency situation practice and how stuff like abs and esp works. So many people are so bad at driving when it is slippery or winter conditions.”

This sounds like an awful lot of rigmarole in order to get your license in France! But, it’s nice to see that national pride prevails as this poster attempted their lessons in both a Peugeot 206 and a Clio III, which I think might be the ultimate driving instructor’s car.

Suggested by: mx5kev