Think you had to work for your license?

[Helldriver]

Hi all,

I am German and payed around 2000 € for my car and bike license. That was around 12 years ago. Now days you are good if you pay only around 3000 € (approx. NZ$6000!) for booth licenses, maybe even more.
I guess the driving "education" is kind of different from the one here in NZ. You spend hours / days on the bike of your driving teacher which drives in the car behind you (on open road, city, autobahn etc.) and gives you shit via his microphone which is connected to a small speaker in your helmet. While you are doing this you definitely don't enjoy it too much but looking back I must say that it was quite good.

I personally must say that I rather have this kind of driving education then the one you can get here.

Ok I must admit, getting you full license here is easy and very very cheap!

I see a lot of learner here on the streets and their style of riding as well as the crash / death statistic of motorcyclists in NZ does not wonder me any more.

This is not a personal criticism on anyone, don't get me wrong.

But as someone before posted. Learning on your bike alone on the street after you could proof the riding skills on a parking ground for a couple of minutes is quite dangerous I personally think.
Some proper driving lessons would be a good idea I think, especially if you are not grown up on a farm and had the opportunity to learn how to handle a bike without any other traffic.

I figured that a good and save playground here in NZ are the track days and recommend them to everyone. It's not about racing it's more about knowing your own limits and the one of your bike.

I love riding in NZ and wish you all an accident free upcoming season!

Cheers

[McJim]

New Zealand in general has a far more "laissez faire" attitude to motor vehicles in general than other countries I have lived in.

Instead we have an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff (ACC) to pick up the pieces and we hope Darwin will do his work and produce better riders/drivers from those who actually reach breeding age despite starting to drive at the age of 15.

I am the result of the british driving test and although I d not consider myself a good driver I consider myself a safe driver...same goes for riding. I am not good but I am safe as I know my limits and ride well within them (not just within them like many others I could mention )

[dipshit]

Now days you are good if you pay only around 3000 € (approx. NZ$6000!) for booth licenses, maybe even more.

It always makes me laugh when I see people in here saying we should have higher standards for getting a licence... because you could almost guarantee that the moment we do - the very next day you would see a whole lot of people in here bitching and moaning about the cost of getting a licence.

[Helldriver]

It always makes me laugh when I see people in here saying we should have higher standards for getting a licence... because you could almost guarantee that the moment we do - the very next day you would see a whole lot of people in here bitching and moaning about the cost of getting a licence.

Obviously money is always the issue.

You pay for what you get, I would say...

[DMCD]

I wish it was that strict in NZ

[Mikkel]

Introducing a similar scheme in NZ would require a huge investment in order to put a system of instructors, driving/riding skill development facilities and examiners into place.

Considering the general level of wages in NZ I'd say we'd get away with a cost of approximately half of that seen in Europe - for a comparable level of instruction.

One problem with the scheme as we have in Denmark these days is that there is a required minimum number of instructor hours you have to do before you are allowed to sit your test. This is in the order of 25 hours for cars - at about $100 per hour - which is absolutely ridiculous seeing as quite a few people are able to upskill to the required level in less than 10 hours.

Having taken my car license in Denmark in 1999 and my motorcycle license in NZ 2007, I have to say that the biggest downfall of the NZ licensing system is that it fails completely on two counts: 1) Teaching people to take motoring seriously, and 2) how to operate a motorvehicle in a considerate AND efficient manner.

[JMemonic]

It always makes me laugh when I see people in here saying we should have higher standards for getting a licence... because you could almost guarantee that the moment we do - the very next day you would see a whole lot of people in here bitching and moaning about the cost of getting a licence.

I could not agree more, odd really and the biggest whiners would be those with the most to say on here about lack of training and skills etc.

[JMemonic]

Introducing a similar scheme in NZ would require a huge investment in order to put a system of instructors, driving/riding skill development facilities and examiners into place.

Not really the investment would come from those who actually wanted to be instructors as it does now, you would see a lag in the number of instructors to those wanting to learn for a while but if there is a liveable wage available then I am sure folks would look to train in the area. (eg myGSXF who is now a qualified)[/QUOTE]

Considering the general level of wages in NZ I'd say we'd get away with a cost of approximately half of that seen in Europe - for a comparable level of instruction.

One problem with the scheme as we have in Denmark these days is that there is a required minimum number of instructor hours you have to do before you are allowed to sit your test. This is in the order of 25 hours for cars - at about $100 per hour - which is absolutely ridiculous seeing as quite a few people are able to upskill to the required level in less than 10 hours.

One could hope but greed would say otherwise.

Having taken my car license in Denmark in 1999 and my motorcycle license in NZ 2007, I have to say that the biggest downfall of the NZ licensing system is that it fails completely on two counts: 1) Teaching people to take motoring seriously, and 2) how to operate a motor vehicle in a considerate AND efficient manner.

You've been here too long when you stop noticing that.