98 Fun Facts About Driving Test

Which country made a driving certificate compulsory nationwide as early as 1899?

France moved early: a certificate of capacity first demanded in the capital in 1893 was extended to the whole country by a decree of March 1899.

Carl Benz got a permit to drive his Motorwagen in 1888 after neighbours complained about what?

Its noise and smell had people in Mannheim cursing the Motorwagen, so in 1888 Benz had his drives approved in writing by the Grand Ducal authorities, without any test.

Prussia's compulsory 1903 driving tests were run by a body that supervised what?

Steam boilers were the inspection association's original business; it had begun checking motor vehicles in 1900 and is the forerunner of today's TÜV, Germany's vehicle-testing body.

Which European country did not add a practical driving test to its licence exam until 1977?

Belgium made a written exam compulsory in 1967 but added a test at the wheel only in 1977, long after its neighbours.

Which US state was the first to require both a driver's licence and a driving exam, in 1908?

Rhode Island tested its drivers from 1908, five years after Massachusetts and Missouri had issued the country's first licences with no exam at all.

New York's first driver licensing law, passed in 1910, applied only to whom?

Professional chauffeurs were the only New Yorkers licensed from 1910; ordinary drivers in New York City followed in 1917 and the rest of the state not until 1924.

The 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic said national driving permits should be which colour?

Pink was the colour laid down for the convention's model permit, and it turned up again in 1980, when the European Community ruled that its first common driving licence should be pink too.

The entire last page of an International Driving Permit must be drawn up in which language?

The preceding pages repeat it in several languages that must include English, Russian and Spanish.

The idea of an International Driving Permit was first mooted at a 1926 convention in which city?

Paris hosted the 1926 motor-traffic convention that first prescribed the document; the United Nations rewrote the rules at Geneva in 1949 and again at Vienna in 1968.

Leslie Hore-Belisha, the minister who brought in Britain's compulsory driving test, gave his name to which road feature?

Crossing beacons, the flashing amber globes at pedestrian crossings, are still called Belisha beacons; he introduced them in 1934, the year his Road Traffic Act set up the test.

UK driving tests were suspended for nearly five months from November 1956 because of what?

The Suez Crisis brought petrol rationing: learners were allowed to drive unaccompanied, and examiners were put to work administering the fuel rations until tests resumed in April 1957.

Who is the only person not required to hold a licence to drive on Britain's roads?

The sovereign alone is outside the licensing law: Elizabeth II trained as an army driver and mechanic in 1945, yet never needed a licence to take the wheel.

What must a learner in Great Britain hold before taking a first driving lesson on the road?

A provisional licence can be applied for from the age of 15 years and 9 months, yet it normally allows driving a car only from 17, and then only beside a qualified supervisor.

Learner drivers in Wales may display plates bearing which letter instead of L?

D stands for dysgwr, the Welsh word for learner; either plate is legal in Wales, so a learner's car there may carry a red L, a red D or both.

In the British driving test, what is the result of committing a single 'serious' fault?

Failure follows any serious or dangerous fault, yet a candidate can make up to 15 ordinary driving faults, the so-called minors, and still pass.

What colour are the optional 'probationary' P plates some new drivers display in Great Britain?

Green P plates are a courtesy in Great Britain, where nobody has to show them, but across the Irish Sea the idea is law: new drivers in Northern Ireland must display an R plate after passing.

A new British driver who reaches six penalty points within two years faces what?

Retaking both tests is the price: the licence is cancelled and the driver starts again as a learner, whereas experienced drivers are not usually disqualified until twelve points.

Which section joined the UK theory test in 2002?

Hazard perception shows 14 clips and pays up to five points for spotting each danger early, but clicking continuously or in a pattern scores nothing.

Since December 2017, most candidates in the British practical test must follow directions from what?

A sat nav supplied and set up by the examiner guides about four candidates in five; taking a wrong turning costs nothing unless a fault is made on the way.

Before a British driving test begins, the candidate must read what from 20 metres away?

A number plate on a parked car is the whole eyesight check; a candidate who cannot read it fails on the spot and the test ends before any driving.

More than a third of the first Highway Code covered what?

Hand signals for drivers and police filled over a third of the 1931 booklet, which even told drivers of horse-drawn vehicles to rotate the whip above the head before a turn.

What did the 2022 edition of The Highway Code introduce?

A hierarchy of road users puts those most at risk in a collision, pedestrians first, at the top; it does not excuse anyone from behaving responsibly.

What is the official UK name for the three-point turn?

Turning in the road, in full 'using forward and reverse gears', was dropped from the practical test in December 2017, though instructors are still expected to teach it.

The 'show me, tell me' questions in the British driving test are about what?

Vehicle safety checks are the subject: one 'tell me' question before setting off, such as how to check the brakes, and one 'show me' task on the move, such as washing the windscreen.

Who must take Britain's 'extended' driving test, which lasts about twice as long as the standard one?

Drivers returning from a ban can be ordered to take it before they get a licence back: more than an hour on the road instead of the usual thirty-five to forty minutes.

In Japan, the leaf-shaped shoshinsha mark on a car tells other motorists that its driver is what?

A beginner must show the mark for a year after getting a licence, and the law shields whoever carries it: motorists who cut in on a car displaying it, or crowd it from the side, commit a traffic offence.

Until 1996, how did driving examiners test British learners on The Highway Code?

Spoken questions about The Highway Code, put by the examiner during the driving test, gave way on 1 July 1996 to a separate written paper, which moved onto computer screens in 2000.

What is a driving licence called in Germany?

Führerschein joins Führer, here a driver, to Schein, a certificate; Germans can pass the test at 17, but until they turn 18 may drive only with a named adult beside them, a rule meant to cut novice drivers' crashes.

The 'Dutch Reach', recommended by The Highway Code since 2022, is a safer way of doing what?

Opening a car door by reaching across with the arm furthest from it makes you turn and look over your shoulder, so you are less likely to swing the door into a passing cyclist.

The 'two-second rule' taught to learner drivers is a way of judging what?

A safe following distance means passing a fixed point, such as a sign, at least two seconds after the car in front; The Highway Code says to double the gap on wet roads.

When may a driver enter a British yellow box junction although the way ahead is not clear?

When turning right, a driver may wait in the box if only oncoming traffic blocks the turn; otherwise the criss-cross yellow lines must be kept clear until the exit is free.

Which manoeuvre joined the British practical driving test in December 2017?

Pulling up on the right, reversing two car lengths and rejoining the traffic was added on 4 December 2017, when reversing round a corner was retired from the test.

Which road sign is an octagon in most countries, a shape drivers can recognise even from behind?

Stop got its eight sides in the United States in the early 1920s; the unique shape tells drivers who see only the back of the sign that the other road has to halt.

Since 2018, learner drivers in Britain may have lessons on a motorway only if accompanied by whom?

An approved instructor in a car with dual controls is the only escort allowed; before 4 June 2018 learners were kept off motorways altogether, and they are still not part of the test.

In which of these countries is an International Driving Permit refused outright, so visitors need a local licence?

China insists that every driver hold a Chinese licence; the mainland has joined neither of the United Nations road-traffic conventions under which countries agree to accept each other's permits.

On British motorways, amber reflective studs mark the edge of the carriageway beside what?

The central reservation is edged with amber studs, while red studs mark the left edge and white ones divide the lanes, so the colours tell a driver which side of the road is which.

In the three-step routine drilled into British learner drivers, what comes before 'signal' and 'manoeuvre'?

Mirrors come first, yet The Highway Code warns that they do not show everything: blind spots remain, so a driver also needs to look round and check.

Why was Britain's new driving test voluntary for its first weeks in 1935?

To avoid a rush of candidates when it turned compulsory that June, testing opened on a voluntary basis in March 1935; about 246,000 people still applied, and 63 per cent passed.

On British and European driving licences, which category letter covers ordinary cars?

B is for cars; A covers motorcycles, C lorries and D buses, a lettering shared across Europe so that a licence reads the same from one country to the next.

Since May 2025, US air travellers without a REAL ID-compliant licence can still board a domestic flight by showing what?

A passport is accepted in place of a REAL ID licence at airport security; the 2005 law behind the rule was finally enforced from 7 May 2025.

Which country lifted the world's only ban on women driving in June 2018?

Saudi Arabia let women take the wheel on 24 June 2018, nine months after a royal order; several women who had campaigned for the change were detained weeks before it came.

Which was the last US state to start issuing driver's licences, holding out until 1954?

South Dakota issued no licences until 1954 and set no driving exam until 1959, the last state on both counts; its northern neighbour had licensed drivers since 1935.

How is a Real ID-compliant US driver's license identified?

A gold or black star marks a card that meets the federal security standard; since 7 May 2025 adults need such a card, or another accepted document, to board a domestic flight.

In the United States, which of these private organisations issues International Driving Permits?

AAA, the motoring club, is one of only two bodies the State Department authorises to issue the permit, and officials warn that many websites selling an 'international driver's licence' are frauds.

Russia's extra licence categories Tm and Tb cover which vehicles?

They sit alongside 14 EU-style main categories. Off-road machinery needs a separate tractorist-machinist's licence.

South Korea's Cha Sa-soon became a national celebrity in 2009 by passing her written driving exam on which attempt?

Her 950th try finally brought the 68-year-old the 60 marks out of 100 she needed, after four years of sittings; counting the road tests, she took 960 tests in all.

Which American car maker got his first driver's licence at 56, when his home state began issuing them in 1919?

Henry Ford had been selling the Model T since 1908, but Michigan passed its first driver licence law only in 1919, so he was 56 before he held a licence of his own.

Which manoeuvre, once standard, have several US states dropped from their road tests?

Parallel parking was cut from Maryland's road test in 2015 after officials judged that a reverse two-point turn already tested the same skills; the state kept it in the driver's education curriculum.

Which carmaker introduced the three-point seat belt in 1959 and let rivals use the patent for free?

Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin had designed ejection seats at Saab before creating the belt, and the company opened the patent so any carmaker could copy it.

Which word for a pedestrian offence did America's car lobby promote in the 1920s as a term of ridicule?

Jaywalking borrowed 'jay', then slang for a clueless newcomer, from 'jay-driver', an insult for people who drove on the wrong side of the road.

Which driving aid did Ralph Teetor invent, by family lore after tiring of his lawyer's jerky speed changes?

Cruise control came from a man who could not see the road: Teetor had been blind since a childhood accident, and Cadillac's name for his device stuck.

Which term describes tires riding up on a film of standing water and losing their grip on the road?

Hydroplaning, also called aquaplaning, grows more likely with higher speeds, deeper standing water and worn tread.

On many dashboards since the 1990s, what does a small arrow beside the gas pump icon tell the driver?

The filler cap's side is what the arrow shows, an idea Ford designer Jim Moylan came up with in 1986; it is now nicknamed the Moylan Arrow.

Which animal names the Scandinavian swerve test in which a new Mercedes-Benz A-Class rolled over in 1997?

Moose stands in for any obstacle that suddenly appears in the road, and later in 1997 a German newspaper drove an old East German Trabant through the same test unscathed.

A correctly raised head restraint is designed mainly to prevent which injury in a rear-end collision?

Whiplash occurs when the head snaps backward relative to the torso, and U.S. regulators made the restraints mandatory in new cars from 1969.

Which car feature did Alabama's Mary Anderson patent after watching a streetcar driver struggle in sleet?

Windshield wipers earned Anderson nothing: buyers judged her device to lack commercial value while cars were still rare, and the patent expired in 1920.

In U.S. hand signals, what is meant by holding the left arm out with the forearm pointing straight up?

Turning right is shown with the left arm bent upward; held straight out it means a left turn, and angled downward it warns of a stop.

Which country switched from driving on the left to the right in 1967, on a day known as Dagen H?

Sweden banned non-essential traffic from the roads before dawn on the day of the changeover, and the H stood for Högertrafik, meaning right-hand traffic.

Which winter hazard is a thin, transparent glaze that lets the road surface show through?

Black ice is not black at all: the glaze is clear, so drivers see just the bare asphalt beneath it and get no warning before the tires lose grip.

Which motorway network has long stretches with no speed limit, just an advisory 130 km/h?

Autobahn drivers who exceed the advisory speed break no law, but German courts can hold them partly liable if they crash while going faster.

In most U.S. states, drivers in either direction must stop for which vehicle when its red lights flash?

A school bus halts traffic both ways because children may cross in front of it, though most states exempt drivers on the far side of a divided highway.

Which habit, blamed for at least half of rear-end collisions, is fought with chevrons painted on some motorways?

Tailgating leaves too little room to stop if the car ahead brakes suddenly, and the chevrons help drivers judge the gap they should keep.

Which slang term describes drivers who brake to stare at a crash, often causing a jam on the unaffected side?

Rubbernecking was coined in the 1890s for sightseeing tourists, and Britain has trialled incident screens that hide crash scenes from passing drivers.

The letters SRS on a steering wheel, short for supplemental restraint system, mark which safety device?

An airbag is labelled supplemental because carmakers stopped treating it as a replacement for the belt; it inflates in milliseconds, then deflates.

Which colorless, odorless gas in engine exhaust makes it dangerous to idle a car inside a closed garage?

Carbon monoxide has also poisoned people in cars left idling outdoors, when snow blocked the exhaust pipe and the fumes had nowhere else to go.

William Phelps Eno, hailed as the father of traffic safety for his early road rules, famously never did what?

Learned to drive is the one step he skipped: Eno drew up his first rules for the horse-drawn carriages of New York, before cars were common.

Which word did New York traffic engineer Sam Schwartz popularise for jams that block every street in a network?

Gridlock reached the newspapers during New York's 1980 transit strike, when Schwartz put the word in the title of his emergency memo.

Which safety feature, patented by Mercedes-Benz engineer Béla Barényi, is built to collapse in a crash?

Crumple zone design overturned the belief that a safe car had to be rigid: the deforming metal stretches out the impact and spares the occupants.

Which system pulses the pressure at each wheel in an emergency stop so the driver can still steer?

Anti-lock brakes can apply and release the pressure around 15 times a second, doing for the driver what pumping the pedal by hand once did.

Which headlamp setting suits thick fog, because the brighter one bounces glare back off the water droplets?

Low beams aim most of their light downward, while the main beam's upward spill hits the fog and comes straight back at the driver as dazzle.

Which part of a highway usually freezes first, because cold air chills the surface from above and below?

Bridges have air circulating on both sides of the deck, so the pavement temperature falls quickly and ice can coat them before the rest of the road.

Which term describes brakes losing their bite on a long descent, a reason to select a lower gear?

Brake fade sets in as sustained friction overheats the pads or the fluid, which is why many steep American grades require heavy vehicles to gear down.

Which feature of long mountain descents is a lane of deep gravel or sand that halts vehicles with failed brakes?

A truck escape ramp uses rolling resistance, the loose stone dragging a runaway rig to a halt without any help from its brakes.

Which grooved feature along a road's edge or centerline alerts a drowsy driver with sound and vibration?

Rumble strips, also called sleeper lines or alert strips, send the warning through the wheels into the cabin, where it is felt as much as heard.

Which part of a U.S. freeway, marked with a diamond symbol, is reserved for cars with at least one passenger?

The carpool lane is officially a high-occupancy vehicle lane, but California's highway department preferred the everyday name for half a century.

Which kind of law, passed in all 50 U.S. states, makes drivers give stopped emergency crews a clear lane?

A move over law also protects utility workers and, in some states, tow operators, and Hawaii became the last state to pass one, in 2012.

Which technique has drivers fill both lanes up to a closure, then take turns, shortening the queue?

A zipper merge carries nearly 20 percent more traffic than merging early, yet drivers who use the emptying lane to its end are often resented.

Eastern U.S. states began allowing drivers to turn on a red light in the 1970s chiefly as a measure to cut what?

Fuel use became a federal concern after the 1973 shortages, and a 1975 conservation law tied state aid to permitting the manoeuvre.

On the U.S. Interstate system, primary routes with odd numbers such as I-95 generally run in which direction?

North–south routes take odd numbers that rise from I-5 on the West Coast to I-95 in the East, the reverse of the older U.S. Highway numbering.

Which term describes a tractor-trailer folding at its hitch when the trailer skids and shoves the cab around?

Jackknifing is named for the folding pocket knife the rig resembles, and in extreme cases a driver may provoke it deliberately after losing the brakes.

Which term describes a lapse into unconsciousness lasting a few seconds, a serious danger on monotonous roads?

A microsleep can pass unnoticed: the driver simply finds that several seconds have gone by, never realising they were asleep.

Which phrase, coined in 1963, describes driving a long distance safely yet with no memory of having done so?

Highway hypnosis, also called white line fever, was described as early as 1921 under the name road hypnotism, a trance from gazing at a fixed point.

Researchers sort driver distraction into visual, manual and which third type, where the mind wanders off the task?

Cognitive distraction includes daydreaming and the looked-but-did-not-see lapse, and one analysis of fatal crashes found it a bigger factor than external distractions.

Which legal doctrine lets a U.S. state suspend the license of an arrested driver who refuses a chemical alcohol test?

Implied consent means a driver is treated as having agreed to testing simply by holding a license, so a refusal brings its own penalty whatever happens to the original charge.

Which creature names the British light-signalled crossing that pedestrians and cyclists may use side by side?

Toucan was chosen as a pun, since two can cross together, and cyclists may stay in the saddle and ride across.

Why do most U.S. states print some driver's licenses in a vertical layout rather than the usual horizontal one?

Holder is under 21: the upright card follows a design standard from the association of state motor vehicle agencies, and adults get the horizontal format.

The eyesight check that opens the British practical driving test asks candidates to read what from 20 metres?

A number plate misread on three attempts ends the test on the spot, and the examiner fetches a tape measure before the final try.

Which Australian state passed the world's first compulsory seat belt law in 1970?

Victoria's law left America far behind: the first U.S. state to pass one, New York, did not follow until 1984.

Which U.S. state was first to adopt the 0.08 drink-drive limit and later first to cut it to 0.05 percent?

Utah made its first cut in 1983, when the standard elsewhere was 0.10 percent, and brought in the second on the day before New Year's Eve.

Which campaign group did Candace Lightner found in California in 1980?

Mothers Against Drunk Driving began after a drunk driver killed Lightner's 13-year-old daughter, and it grew rapidly after a 1983 television film about her.

Which roadside testing device did Indiana State Police captain Robert Borkenstein invent in 1954?

The Breathalyzer became so widespread that its brand name turned into the everyday word for any device of its kind.

Which U.S. president signed the 1974 law that set a national 55 mph speed limit, a cap Congress repealed in 1995?

Richard Nixon had proposed 50 mph for cars during the 1973 oil embargo and approved the higher figure when he signed the final bill.

Which U.S. state had no daytime highway speed limit from 1995 to 1999, just a 'reasonable and prudent' rule?

Montana lost the rule when its Supreme Court threw it out as unconstitutionally vague, though night driving had been capped at 65 mph all along.

In which American city did police sergeant Harry Jackson create the first stop sign in 1914?

Detroit saw the idea adopted across Michigan the next year, and for three decades U.S. stop signs were yellow, since no red finish then resisted fading.

Which road-safety device did Yorkshireman Percy Shaw patent in the 1930s, a reflector prized in fog?

Cat's eye studs also shrug off snow ploughs, and wartime driving with shuttered headlights turned Shaw's invention into a British standard.

Which term, first used of World War II fighter-bomber pilots, describes steering into the very hazard one stares at?

Target fixation affects motorcyclists, racing drivers and paragliders alike: anyone guiding a fast machine while staring at the thing to avoid.

Which American sign, with its warning words written along both arms, marks where a road meets a railroad?

A crossbuck is built from two equal slats fixed in a saltire, and a panel beneath it may say how many tracks lie ahead.

Which traffic-calming device did Nobel physicist Arthur Compton design in 1953 to slow cars outside his university?

The speed bump grew from designs Compton began after watching motorists race past Brookings Hall on his St. Louis campus.