American takes the German Driving Written Exam [part 1] 

German here. Those questions don't look like the exam, they just ask you what that sign means. The exam puts you in various situations, circumstances, technical knowledge, laws and environment an and ask you answer correctly.

"Why are you talking about a zone for pedestrians? What does that even mean?" has to be the most American thing I've heard in my life.

In Germany the Written Exam contains 30 Questions. Each Question has different points if u get them wrong. Priority Questions have 5 Points while others have 2, 3 or 4. You are allowed to get 10 Points by wrong answers. If have have 10 or less, you pass the test. One exception: You are not allowed to get two Questions wrong that are worth 5 points

I hate to tell you, but you failed the exam after these first questions allready

It's not just in Germany, it's almost in whole Europe, the same .

Priority roads are roads that always have the right of way. So, if you're on a priority road, you never have to yield for people coming from the right or left. However, if you are turning left, you have to yield for oncoming traffic. Also, if you take a turn and there's pedestrians walking alongside the priority road, you have to yield for them. And different from the US, in Germany pedestrians are always allowed to cross the road (unless it's an autobahn or kraftfahrstraße), unless they are at a crossroad with traffic lights for pedestrians. In that case, pedestrians are required to use the traffic light like everybody else, otherwise they run a red light.

Dutch here. These are not typical German but European traffic rules. Without learning some logic of the signs you will never pass the exam. So read the explanatory comments.

The lights indicators inside a car like the fog lights for example are more or less the same sign in all cars manufacturers in europe, the difference between front and rear are the colors of the lights itself, red or orange are for back lights green or blue for front lights

15:50 gave me the best lough of today 😂 everywhere in germany when it is prohibited to turn right, they put up a signt wich says kölln/cologn right and düsseldorf left. of yourse the people of kölln were upset about it at first, but you just cant argue with düsseldorf 🤣

1:52 you can stop your test right there if you don't recognize that sign.

For the Fog lights, in Germany atleast every car has to have a rear fog light, but front fog lights are not mandetory, and not every car has them. so Rear Fog Light might make sense to you now.

Built-up zone means practically "in city" but the official term is more generic to allow towns and similar smaller places without fighting about if those are a city. When you see a sign with buildings crossed over, it basically means outside built-up zone, or rural area.

In the netherlands your answer has te be chosen within 8 seconds

6:12 nah pedestrians can go everywhere... but they simply have no right of way if they are not on a so called "zebrastreifen"

as a German i can say the practical test is way way way easier than the theoretically test

So to calm your mind in my 33 years in germany i've never seen a sign of minimum speed here. and the only minimum speed limit i know about is 60km/h for the autobahn, but that should be common knowledge (around here).

Not quite sure about Germany (though it should be the same) but I'd expect the end of maximum speed to be a red circle with white field and black numbers, crossed. The start of a maximum speed is just the red circle, white field, and black numbers.

4:50 Yeah they're doing the front/back right/left the wrong way around.

4:55 Like some additional light in the direction of driving? And therefore you do not need a dashboard indicator to show you that they are on?🤔🤫

Minimum Speeds are written in round blue signs.

Important note: The test is not judged by how much you get right, but how much you get wrong. There are error points for every question, if you get too many negative points you fail.

1:49 "I don't think cyclists are prohibited anywhere in Germany." Autobahn 🛣 : *"You picked the wrong house, fool!"*

6:45 You can tell from the shape what the sign is about. Round sign are mandatory (blue) or prohibitive (red rim). Triangular signs are warnings. Squares and rectangles are informative. The priority signs have unique shapes that don't exist anywhere else: Diamond for Priority, Triangle on the head for Yield. Octagon for STOP. A mandatory path for pedestrians would be a round blue sign with a white pedestrian, similar to the Bus Lane sign previously. But in this case, it's a blue square, making it an information, because it tells car drivers that this is a pedestrian crossing. But a pedestrian is not required to cross here. If he wants to continue along his side of the road, this is fine. Only if he wants to cross, he has to use the pedestrian crossing if he is within 50 m of it.

Regarding the Pedestrian Crossing Sign: Jaywalking is not illegal in Germany. The Sign indicates a Zebra Crossing, where Pedestrians can cross the road safely and cars have to stop for them. They are allowed to cross the road anywhere, however it then is on their own risk and insurance might not cover them in case of an accident. Contrary to the Zebra crossing where they hav the right of way and so,are in the right if a car doesnt stop for them and hits them.

It's funny, because you intuitively understand the signs mostly correct. Most of the world uses this or similar signs based on symbols. Only the US, Australia and Canada use signs with mostly words on them. Which makes a lot less sense for dislexic people or people of a different language 😅

I love how close you get to the answers, showing, that the signs seem to be actually kind of intuitive :) red circle: prohibited; blue circular sign: mandatory; triangle tip up: warning; triangle tip down: give way; and since you said mandatory=blue before 13:00 it is sad, that you didn't connect the dots, that a crossed out blue 30 is the end of the "mandatory", therefore minimum speed. Though its as you suggested pretty rare here.

Actually so far this is not really how a test would look like. Just the part about all the signs but maybe there will be other things in the following parts - I am excited to see how this is going on, you're doing pretty well so far! :)

I think your last statement is the point. Self-explanatory is why these mostly standardized international road signs have been designed. If only the US of A and some other countries would understand this.

The questionnaire to prepare for the theoretical driving test usually contains around 1,600 questions (basic material and additional material). In the test itself you will be asked 30 questions out of these 1600 and depending on their relevance there will be demerit points. If you get 10 demerit points you fail. Around 37% of people applying for a driving license fail this test and have to repeat it until they have passed it.

The real test is a lot different. There are even questions which require you to type in a number, for example how many meters in front of railroad crossing parking is prohibited. (2 questions since there is a difference in the distance if you are in a city)

I actually love your thoughts on the minimum speed sign. Blue = Mandatory 30 = Speed 30 Crossed-out = End of. End of Mandatory Speed 30. You were THIS close to greatness :P

Built up area: Germany and a lot of European countries have strict zoning rules regarding where you are allowed to erect buildings and where not. This results in clear demarcations where a city, town or village (or part of a city) ends and farmland, forests or nature begins. A built up area (the German term is “geschlossene Ortschaft”) is an area where you have houses next to each other without large gaps. “Ortschaft” itself can be translated as ‘settlement’, “geschlossenen” literally means ‘closed’ as opposed to something more open with a lot of gaps. In basically all of you Europe, there is a default speed limit within built up areas and another outside of them (plus one for freeways). When you enter a built up area, this is indicated by a (in Germany yellow) sign with the name of the settlement, which tells you that from this point on, the default speed limit for built up areas applies. You’ll find the same sign with the name of the settlement with an added red diagonal line across it when you leave the built up area, telling you that the default speed limit for the ‘open road’ applies from that point on.

The written test for a car driver license is 30 questions worth 2 to 5 points and you allowed to fail a maximum of 10 points (not 10 questions!). So if those 4 failed questions you had, were 2 point questions, you could fail 1 other 2 point question without failing. But if any of those questions was 3 or more points, you either can not fail another question or you might have already failed the test.

To be honest. I would have watched you for 2 hours straight taking that entire test. It's so entertaining.

There are zones in bigger cities in Germany for pedestrians only (Fußgängerzone). Even bicycles are forbidden there.

"A zone for pedestrians. What does this even mean?" made my day. :-) The US is indeed a car country. In many European countries pedestrian zones can be found in the city centers. You can find most shops (and I don't mean grocery stores) and also cafés/restaurants in those areas. ;-). The US has the shopping malls, Europe has pedestrian zones. And in Germany it is called a "Fußgängerzone". Well, we do have malls as well, but I'd say they are generally less common. According to the national speed limits sign: A built-up area is a municipality. So the sign says: D = Germany Inside a built-up area/municipality the obligatory speed limit is 50 km/h (unless otherwise is indicated) Outside a built-up area/municipality the obligatory speed limit is 100 km/h (unless otherwise is indicated) On the Autobahn the recommended speed limit ist 130 km/h (unless otherwise is indicated) You can find those signs at national border crossings.

Don't wanna crush your hopes, but you would have failed the exam already.

Everyone, please keep in mind that minimum speed sign is not only used in Germany, regardless that is a German driving test, the sign is all over Europe. You might not see it often in Germany, but see it on your next holiday in Croatia for example(hypothetically speaking). Overall for an American, good job Ryan. Funny thing when I had to pass driving test in US as my European DL was valid there for 9 months only , I drove 5 min around the corner, in EU was 30 minutes city driving, parking etc.

It's important to keep in mind that there's a time limit on the actual test. If Ryan took this long on the actual test, he wouldn't get through half of them in the allotted time.

You explained the end of minimum speed absolutely correct, but then decided to chose the annswer that didn’t fit your explanation 😂😂

12:07 it´s Vorfahrt gewähren in german, wich translates to give way. Minimum speed limits are very rare in germany too.

just so you know, at least so far this doesnt seem to be a proper theoretical exam, normally they also have pictures and videos of trafic situations on which you get questioned, also there are some questions without any image

The pedestrian crossing sign: It actually IS allowed to jaywalk if the next crossing is more than 25m away. You did very good on this test! Congratulations. Also the answers are intentionally a bit "mean" and you have to really look how they are written sometimes, because you might overlook a "not" or similar and get it wrong. In Austria our tests are digital now and you have to give ALL the right answers to a question (multiple choice where more than one can be right) or it is counted as completely wrong. We also have main questions and most of them have "follow ups", but if you don't answer the main one correctly the test won't even show you the follow ups and they are all counted as wrong answers.

I guess you already failed

14:30 blue round signs are something mandatory. Here it is speed. White on blue says you must at least drive at this speed. It is often at ascending roads for certain lanes. Crossing it out, there is no more a reason to mandate a minimum speed. A maximum speed is indicated with a round sign having a red frame and a white infield with a number, in this case it would be 30 , in it. When the maximum speed ends, the same sign is crossed out.

Really not that bad for somebody who never attended a German driving school! 👍

I have never in my german life seen an "End of minimum speed" sign...

11:32 I always call this sign "Hirsch von rechts" (Deer from right) and the opposite one "Hirsch von links" (Deer from left). Sometimes you also have it on both sides of the road so be ready for deers colliding head on in front of you.

Can’t wait for the rest of the series. You would easily pass with some training, but not on first try is my guess. To train you basically do these tests over and over until you have everything right. For training you would answer them ten times faster though, at least 😉

Just shows how signs are simpler than words.

the thing about the fog light is, it's only mandatory on the rear, so there's only a "rear light sign" in ervey vehicle

Ryan is a genius. He is doing a an exam video, gets money and than he get the money for flying over to Europe and do a vacation and rent a car.😂

Norwegian here. Good job! I often have to slow down when driving in the US because of the huge (to a european) amount of writing on your road signs (perhaps I should just learn to read faster or get new glasses🙂) If I were you I would make four more videos with 25 questions in each. 🚙 🙂👍

Tipp in Germany a. Rund und Rot Heißt verbot ( round and red means forbidden) It's a rhyming proverb in germany

Fun video - looking forward to part 2. Some of my favorites (might edit in more as I finish watching): - were you joking when you were wondering what the "m" stood for? - "why would you be talking about a zone for pedestrians; what does that even mean?" I just about rolled on the kitchen floor I was in the process of cleaning. - "30 is a weird number. It's kind of a weird maximum speed" :D. Regarding that sign: minimum speeds mostly exist on the Autobahn. You have to be able to go at least 60, but signs like this are usually used for lanes on a steep ascent. That way, not every lane will be clogged up by slow cars and trucks. EDIT: for end of speed limit, see comment below. Edit: sorry if this came across as a personal attack. It's just a hilarious representation of cultural differences, which is, of course, perfect for this channel.

LOL these are the rules of the road , for most of the world . and mandatory to know in europe . as every drivers license is an international license . PS most of these signs and rules are tought at primary school . ( children do walk and ride their bikes to school)

I'm german, I'm driving all over Germany for over 12 years now, and I have never seen some of those signs in my life.😂 But you did really good Ryan! Nice to see that you used some of your gained knowledge from the previous videos to conclude the right answer.👌🙂

13:14 Minimum speeds are also very rare in Germany. It is usually used for the left-hand lanes if there are several lanes. But even there it is rarely used.

its good to see that the symbol based signs work as intended. i mean we can see someone who does not know most of the signs, but he is still able to understand what the sign is about

Side note for the deer sign at 11:28 : This particular sign warns for deer crossing from the right side. There was a court case where the person argued that he wasn't warned from deer crossing in the other direction. Since then there is this sign on the right side of the road, with a mirrored one on the left side.

Minimum speed limits are often found on bridges and tunnels where the number of lanes are limited, but trafic needs to flow as smoothly as possible, its also not uncommon in these contexrs to find a maximum speed, so youll see one number on a blue background indicating the minimum speed you musts achieve and next to or above it another number in a red circle indicating the maximum speed ( eg you must travel at at least 30, but not greater than 40).

The minimum speed limit ist usually If you drive uphill. Then you have sometimes minimum speed limit on different lanes to avoid accidents.

13:45 the idea with blue meaning mandatory is right. If the speed sign is blue it means you have to go at least that fast, if it is white with a red circle it means something is prohibited so a white sign with red circle around it and a speed sign means you can't go faster

Minimum speed is also pretty rare in germany. Its for example when a road gets uphill fairly steep and the road is expanted to two lines so you can easely pass trucks or tractors. When you decide to pass the slower vehicles you must at least drive the shown speed.

14:46 End of minimum speed refers to the maximum speed a vehicle can reach. So when there is a minimum speed sign of 30 a vehicle must be capable of driving at least 30km/h not that it has to go faster than 30km/h while driving on that road. So every vehicle that has a maximum speed of 29 km/h is prohibited from using that lane or road. For the Autobahn you also have that minimum speed limit without that sign so that nobody drives with their scooters or tractors on the autobahn.

Was waiting for this after watching the practical video🔥

🤣 Thats not our Driving Written Exam, our Questions have probly more than 1 answers, means on 1 question has maybe 1,2 or 3 right answers and if you make an mistake, the question is wrong.

Mandatory path for pedestrians ❤😂 we're not that controling 😂

The Vienna Convention on Road Traffic that the US hasn't ratified, states the simple traffic sign rules. They are all color- and shape-coded. In German, some of these rhyme: "Rund und rot, immer ein Verbot!" - Round and RED, always prohibiTED! Red triangle, pointing up: Always a "warning of" Red triangle, pointing down: Yield, give right of way. Blue and round: Mandatory for Blue and square: Always a suggestion like the 130 kph on Autobahn. red bordered circle with a blue field and a red strike or crossed out: Parking or halting prohibited. Also, there are rules regarding priorities of 'signs': Man (Police) > traffic lights > traffic signs > right before left. If at a crossing a working traffic light exists but the police is there, police overrules all lower instances. Etc. HTH, good luck everybody with their theoretical exams!

"Why would you talk about a zone for pedestrians? What does that even mean?" Oh bless his beautiful American heart.

I dont think 80% correct is good enough to pass. When I made my test, they gave me like 30+ questions, and only 3 mistakes were allowed. But thats a long time ago, so it may be different now. But without taking lessons in a driving school its not such a bad result. Usually people spend several evenings there being tought about traffic laws. And pay quite a lot of money for it.

8:59 a zone for pedestrians,a Fußgängerzone, is an area where cars aren't allowed (exception being early in the morning so shops can actually get their deliveries.) and you may only push your bike.

Fog lights is easy: Front fog lights, just like your headlights, aim primarily down on the road to illuminate your way. The rear fog light aims at the traffic behind you to, to warn about your position. And minimum Speed is a thing, especially on the Autobahn. In areas with steep hills/mountains, lanes can have a temporary specific minimum speed, to keep them free of very slow vehicles that have trouble getting up.

For the light signs and reading from left to right. If the light beams are left of the lamp, it means in front of it, or in front of the car. The first questions was rear, because the beams came after the light, so behind the car.

Hi Ryan. The website you found here is very interesting. I immediately took the test for the USA. The traffic signs are different from the European ones. But only 6 errors in 60 questions are noticeable, right? I'm curious to see what your result is in the end. Greetings Magnus

"Minimum Speed" generally means, you don't have to go this fast constantly, but your vehicle must be technically capable of going this fast. It's basically a way to ensure that regular traffic is not held up by things like motor scooters or farming machines.

You guessing most of them right is proof, that it would be easy for the US to introduce them. (Even if it was one by one - over a longer period of time) It is so much safer, when you don’t have to read and remember a NOVEL written on signs at the side of the road WHILE driving by… 😜 And you‘d be able to understand the signs in many countries of the world as well…

14:34 30 can be a maximum speed limit here as well! The thing that indicates the 'minimum' are the colors. Blue is for minimum speed limit. A maximum speed limit is a white sign with a red circle.

What was it? 8 Mistakes and you failed, or something? You probably already failed the test and no hard questions yet by the way. 😅✌

European signs 101 for you Ryan, hope it helps! :) European signs have their own simple logic. They are pretty much standardized. If it's a triangle it's a "warning". If it's round it's a "prohibit" if red, a "mandatory" if blue, and "end of prohibit/mandatory" if it's crossed out. If it's a square it's "info" (crosswalk with a pedestrian in a square sign is just letting you know there is a crosswalk). If it's a Saint Andrew's cross (or a widened X) it's a railroad ahead, multiple railroads if it's a multiple-bottom cross. BUT the three shapes that are different from the rest are the yield or "give way" sign (upside down triangle), the stop sign (octagon), and the priority road (diamond), because if you see one from the back at an intersection, you can easily say "that guy has to stop for me because I don't see what sign he has but it's an octagon so it must be a stop sign", or "oh I gotta let this guy out, I can't see what it is from behind, but it's a diamond, it must be a priority road sign". Two more signs I saw you had a hard time with are the "no parking" and "no stopping" sign, the blue circle with red outline, crossed either by one or two red lines. If it's crossed once, then it's a NO don't park (get out, lock the car, and leave it there), if it's crossed twice, then it's a NO-NO don't even stop there (not even while sitting in the car, with hazard lights on, waiting for someone to hop in or out). Also zone signs last until you see the "end of the zone" sign ANYWHERE where you exit the zone. But every other sign lasts until the next intersection, because logically if you enter an intersection, how the hell would you know what sign, what prohibiton, what mandatory stuff, what priority this road had half a mile behind you where that sign half a mile behind said something. But if there is absolutely no sign anywhere at where you enter a lane, then you go back to "standard operation", 50 (31 mph) in built-in area, 90 (56 mph) outside (main roads and such), 110 (68 mph) on motorways, and 130 (80 mph) on highways, give way to the guy to your right (right hand rule is a serious thing here in Europe). Just like in your last video "no signs, so it's... 50". And in Europe signs are at rank 3 of the 5 ranks of public roads of Europe. Rank 1 "what the police signals" and rank 2 "what the traffic light says" overrule traffic signs, but rank 4 "what the paint on the road says", and rank 5 "there is nothing, so I have to go standard" are overruled by the signs. Hope this explanation helps a bit in European traffic rules, and waiting to see the next video :)

Jaywalking isn't a thing in Germany. You can cross wherever

priority lane means that a road has priority over others. In Germany, and other european countries, crossroads are usually not marked by a 4 way stop sign, but by priority lanes and/or "right before left". thus said, if you are on a priority road, you do not have to worry about cars coming onto your road from either left or right.

How did you manage to get the beatles album cover question wrong?

I want to see the rest even though I don't think you would pass. But it sure will help you understand german car driving better in futur reactions. ^^ Good luck and don't worry, not every german can pass first try either. 😃

Hilarious😂

I've already written to you. Red circles are prohibitions, blue signs are permissions, triangular signs are warnings. Before this test, you will take 12 hours of lessons here and will be given a stack of exercise sheets to learn from.

Here's a few hints: Round signs mean mandatory (usually blue) or prohibited (red circle) Blue square signs are typically advisory. (Of a crossing or advised speed for an upcoming bend) Except for the one way streets, typically blue, square or rectangular, with an arrow. (These will have round no entry sign from the other direction, of course) Triangular signs imply danger. Unless it's upside down, which is the yield sign. Daimond shaped priority sign tells you that you are on the priority road and are repeated at every intersection to remind you other directions have to give way. (Still requires attention, don't want to T-bone an idiot thinking they got right of way.) If a sign is not repeated at an intersection, the priority is lifted. (I.e. you're going to have negotiate with other traffic at the intersection and apply common priority rules)

Swiss here.. In Switzerland end of 30 = 50, end of 50/60/70 = 80, end of 80 = 120 The unlimited sign as in Germany means 120 in Switzerland.

Although old: it's definitely only a questionnaire about signs, which makes up 40% of the real theoretical test. And about your point, that most show the rule somehow: in the Vienna convention on street signs around 50 yrs ago a lot of European and later also other countries decided to use these. A born and raised US guy who is not good at reading would still be better with these signs, so this would also make sense for the US. Especially as important texts are for broad understanding written in English - "STOP" on the sign is in English and from German perspective English only, in Germany the word is "STOPP" but is not used to simplify understanding for people from abroad.

The upside triangle ones are all warning signs, which can have many different warnings on it. There are three signs though, whose shape is unique and only has one meaning. 1. The rhombus sign, yellow/white. It means you have priority. 2. The downside triangle, got nothing on it. It means you have to GIVE priority. 3. The octagon, has "STOP" written on it. It means you must stop and hold, give priority and then drive. Driving trough a stopsign without actually stopping (not just driving slower) is expensive and you will fail the driving exam immediately. Now, the interesting part is, why these three signs are exclusive in their shapes. It's because these signs are the most important ones, and because they are unique, you are able to distinct which sign you are approching, even when it is dirty or it is not showing in your direction. When arriving at an intersection for example, with no traffic lights, you can directly tell by the form of the signs who has priority and who has to give priority. And with no signs it's always right before left.

"Spoiler": With 80% you wouldn't pass the exam at all 😢 Moreover that's only the part of traffic signs & car related signs, so in general the "easy part" of the written exam. Additionally all of those signs shown so far are absolute base-signs. That means there weren't any special or rare (= complicated) signs yet.

06:02 The sign means zebra crossing. Here, vehicles MUST give way to pedestrians crossing the road. 14:57 There is a general minimum speed limit on the motorway (Autobahn). (60km) Only vehicles that can drive faster than 60km/h due to their design are allowed to drive there. In the event of traffic jams and congested traffic, the minimum speed may logically be undercut. At this minimum speed, the vehicle must be able to travel faster than 30 km/h. Vehicles that cannot drive faster due to their design are not allowed to drive here. And that's right: the red rope means the end of this restriction

16:14 16/20 is 80%, and doesn't seem bad at all (congrats), but it wouldn't be sufficient for passing your exam in Belgium, where you need a 41/50 = 82% score to pass.

Not bad ! But there isnt any situational photo IRL on which they ask question about what you have to do. I think when I passed mine in France, there could be more than 1 good answer 🤔 and you fail if you answer more than 4 errors on 30 or 40 questions, i dont remember exactly. Maybe it changed since 2004, though

Except this is not the theoretical driving exam but merely a "learn the signs" quiz. The real exam has pictures and even videos of traffic situations from the POV of a car driver, written questions for all sort of stuff (ecological driving, simple car/engine mechanics, alcohol and drug limits etc.) and the answers are multiple choice, i.e. 1, 2, or all three of the provided answers can be correct, not just one.

6:00 - You're going by the colour but it's the shape that determines the type of sign: round blue signs indicate mandatory actions, square blue signs are information signs. That square blue signindicates the proximity of a pedestrian crossing. 7:15 - The 4% is just an example, it just means that those signs always have a number indicating the gradient. 14:40 - Man, you saw what a maximum speed limit sign looked like three questions before, how could you miss this one? 😄

The German name for the "give way" sign is "Vorfahrt achten" and translates to "obey the right of way". And by the way, this wasn't a driving exam. This was just a catalogue of traffic signs. In the real exam, you are put into traffic situations and have to answer how to handle them. There's also questions about physical calculations, emission rules and so on.

A few general rules for all of europe. There are different default speed limits for different types of roads, if its an built up (urbanised) area, or even vehicle combinations you are using. These are not always shown on road signs and can change depending on which country you're in. So if you're planning to cross borders in europe be sure to check up on speed limits for the other country too. Any regular road sign that isnt a 'Zone' is only in effect untill the next intersection where people can merge onto the road, if its not repeated after it is no longer in effect. While USA divers licences are valid for use throughout europe in most cases. They are NEVER valid if you are still under 18. You are required to drive on the rightmost lane available to you. You will get fined for staying in the left lane. (exceptions for sorting yourself at intersections. i.e. sorting on the leftmost lane to turn left twice on two intersections following eachother.)

Very funny to see, how imperial and metric start a confusion: what does 2m mean? For Europeans totally obvious that we're talking about meters here but you would probably write 6.x ft on the sign.

First question was hilarious. You literally explained the difference to a parking prohibited sign, and still fell for this option.