Rules of the Road: how United States driving standards compare the world over

Sarah Mazou, recent graduate, learns to drive. Mazou graduated in December with a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications and an American driver’s license shortly thereafter. Photo courtesy of Sarah MazouBy Alison Angel
angela@mytjnow.com

Before winter break, three international students at Winthrop took a trip down to the local DMV to get their very own American driver’s license.  For weeks they took lessons from the father of a Winthrop student and the day finally arrived when he escorted them to take the big exam.

Unfortunately, when they arrived, it turned out that the Department of Motor Vehicles has a policy:  no non-United States citizens can be tested on a Saturday.

This is only one of a number of policies that the DMV holds in place across the nation that is little known, which can be frustrating for non-United States citizens who don’t have the time to go otherwise. 

One of these students, Sarah Mazou, graduated in December with a bachelor’s degree in integrated marketing communications and a series of driving lessons under her belt in preparation for another trip to the Rock Hill DMV.  

This was not Mazou’s first trip to the DMV in an attempt to obtain her license; before she could even take the test, as an international student, she had to make multiple trips just to show documents proving that she is not an American citizen and not eligible for a social security number.   

The process is much simpler for French citizens who held a driver’s license back in France: 

“When you have a French driver’s license you just need to bring that paperwork and transfer it,” Mazou said.

Unfortunately Mazou had to take the more complicated route because she never got a French driver’s license; she never felt the need until coming to Rock Hill.

“I did not have a driver’s license in France because I did not really need it thanks to the common transports everywhere,” Mazou said.  “[Plus] in France the cost of a driver’s license is 1,000 Euros or more.”

The French exams to obtain a license are also much more difficult in the United States:  

“First you have to pass the permit test that is not easy to get with about 40 questions, which are very hard and sometimes misleading,” Mazou explained.  “Then you need to take at least 20 hours of driving classes with a qualified instructor.  Many people miss the permit and driving test because of some instructors who are too hard to pass.”

The biggest difference in driving in America, besides the much lower price of obtaining an actual license, is the size of the roads and the cars, which are much smaller in France.  People also drive much faster in France, Mazou said, and radars are everywhere despite police being less of a presence on the roads.

“Personally, I think that it is much easier to drive here,” Mazou said.  “But taking the driving test [in the United States] may be more difficult concerning the language barrier and the specific terms needed.”

According to the S.C. DMV website, in South Carolina the process to obtain a driver’s license involves passing a vision and knowledge test in order to obtain a permit.  

Once a driver has a permit and has practiced with a licensed driver they are eligible to take the road test, the only requirements being that a driver must provide their own vehicle and prove it is insured.  These standards are less rigorous than in other countries.

Business administration major Yuying Du also took the trip to the DMV and the leap for her American license.  She, however, came to Rock Hill from China, where the standards are much more difficult than required by the United States.  

In China, Du said, the driving exam is divided into three parts in addition to the actual road test.  

Results are given very mechanically as well, without grading from the instructor themselves.

“Our driving test grades are given by a machine which is put in the back of the car,” Du said.  “We cannot use our own cars [either], the driving center provides special cars for us.”

The standards in Vietnam are not quite as rigorous when it comes to the actual road test.  

The main difference in Vietnam, said business administration major Hien Dang, is in the cost of the license.

“[It’s] much more expensive,” Dang said.  “People drive scooters more commonly.”

Being in South Carolina has given Dang the chance to compare American drivers to Vietnamese drivers.  Generally Dang said that American drivers are much safer, though the infrastructure is so different between the two countries it makes it hard to compare.  

The roads in Vietnam are “crazy and dangerous,” Dang said.  “There are many rules and laws but the number of police is limited and people do not maintain much self discipline...The laws are definitely enforced and complied better.”

Though standards to get a license may differ greatly from country to country, the general consensus is in: according to a few international students, though the process of getting an American license is quite different from their respective countries, American driving laws are policed better.