Führerschein German Driving license. Review on Germany, General

Following are the details regarding the German driving licence, which I underwent all the way through to finally procure one for myself.

Introduction

In Germany generally foreign drivers licences are valid for 6 months. Technically a German translation of the licence is required, but it's not likely you'll be asked for one. You can if necessary buy one from the German ADAC motoring club for some ?35. Alternatively you can buy an International Driving Permit from your country's national auto club for a lot less before you go abroad.

Tourists only need to bring their good old domestic licence. However, if staying beyond 6 months and not an armed forces member, you may need to get a German licence (Führerschein).

Prerequisites are : -

· A valid licence from your country

· Residence in Germany for more than six months .

However, citizens of certain countries enjoy what's known as Pruuml;fungsfreiheit, which means they are not subject to either written or road tests to get their licences transferred. These countries include all EU member states, Andorra, the Channel Islands, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, New Caledonia, Norway, French Polynesia, San Marino, Slovenia, and Switzerland -- each outstanding, as everyone knows, for their ambiance of excellent drivers. (But even citizens of these so-favored nations will have to pay a fee of ?35 to transfer their licences if they are sticking around beyond the 6 month limit.) .

Some US states do enjoy such full reciprocity. A local German driver's licence office (Fuuml;hrerscheinstelle) can inform you of your particular responsibilities.

• Some years ago India was also in the above list but because of gross violations of the traffic regulations by untrained Indian drivers in Germany , the German government decided to remove India from the above list. It was not only a loss to some genuinely good Indian drivers but also a very shameful thing for our country .

Steps

You have to pass some stages before you can get your licence converted to German driving licence.

1. You must get your country driving licence translated into German from ADAC(a German driving club).They charge you ?35 for that.

   
   




2. Next you have to attend compulsory First Aid (Erste hilfe) classes. They give you a certificate.

   
   




3. You have to get your Eye Test done from a doctor who also gives you an Okay certificate . (Both the above test combined cost ?50).

   
   




4. Showing your translation and above defined First Aid Test certificate and Eye test certificate , You must get registered with a Car Driving school (Fahrschule) , where you have to pay for the following subsequently.

   
   

a. Registration with Driving school which costs around ?150.

1. Next you should get registered with Führerscheinstelle (driving authority ) which costs around ?50 showing the letter from your driving school and ADAC.

   
   




2. Then within your Driving school you have to undergo the following.

   
   

a. Take Theory classes which costs around ?10 per class.(Not compulsory if you had licence in your country).

b. Take Practical classes which costs around ?25 per class.

c. Take a Theory test which costs around ?90.

d. Take a Practical test which costs around ?190.

Normally you have to attend 12-13 theory classes compulsory. The practical training classes depends on your performance and on the teacher when he thinks that you are ready to give the test . Normally they give an estimate of at least 18 classes.

The theory test is of Multiple choice type. Altogether it is not very difficult but the marking is very tough i.e. if you have sometime 2 questions out of 20 wrong , you fail. So the probability of failing is quite high.

Then comes the practical test , A invigilator sits in the back seat when you are driving. The pressure on you when you give the on road test for the first time is very high and many people fail in the first time. The invigilator can fail you on smallest of mistakes for e.g. on a zebra crossing if you fail to stop for a person who was standing on the pavement waiting to cross the zebra crossing. Pass and your licence is good forever.

I had to struggle mentally and physically both to finally procure my German driving licence but in the end it really seemed worth it.Frankly speaking, I spent around 50,000 Indian rupees to get my German driving licence made.

The advantage of having a German driving licence is that you never have to renew the licence . Also the German driving licence is the most prestigious driving licence in the whole world. The rigorous process of earning a driving licence greatly contributes to the general motoring competence and a veritable verdure of signals and signs direct this competence. People with german licence thus drive very precisely if not artfully, which means the incidence of what an American, for instance, would remark as a close call is very high. In fact brinkmanship best describes the ruling spirit on German roads. That this spirit coexists with surprisingly low numbers of motoring casualties is testament to the success of the system.