It’s also possible and fairly common to obtain a driver’s license without taking an applied test in the US. In most states you can obtain a license simply by passing drivers’ ed.
How exactly do you do that? I didn’t find such an option when I moved to Japan. I failed the driving test twice before I passed it.
If you’re talking about the many “paper drivers” in Japan (people who have driver’s licenses but no real driving experience) - the ones I know did take their driving test. They just never got around to buying a car and using it on a regular basis.
If you’re not a Japanese citizen, it really depends on your country of origin: a lot of the European nations have reciprocity agreements with Japan, which will exempt you from having to take the test to receive your license, but you’re pretty much stuck if you’re from one of the nations that don’t have any agreement (most conspicuously the US, because Japan gets uncomfortable with the licensing process being regulated at the state level, and not the federal level).
If you’re a native Japanese citizen, I honestly have no clue how they decide whether or not to test you: officially everyone is required to take a driving test on a closed course, and for those of you who have been unlucky enough to suffer through the version they give to foreigners, I should mention that the one they give to native Japanese are usually much longer than the foreigner version.
That is, if they give it. Through some mechanism that I still don’t fully understand, a fairly substantial chunk of applicants will get waved through without a test: they show up, submit their paperwork and fees, take the written test, and instantly get shunted to the photo + printing process without being forced through the anal-retentive blender that is the official driving test.
This is how I’ve heard the stereo type too. Not “slow drivers” but “bad drivers”. There is even an episode of 21 Jumpstreet where they made a joke about it. The joke being Dustin Nguyen was driving Peter DeLuise somewhere and making the complaint abut the negative stereotype that Asians are bad drivers, meanwhile he’s swerving all over the road, cars are honking at them, and Peter DeLuise is obvious in fear for his life.
So the stereotype is common enough for prime time TV.
I don’t know where it comes from. Toronto has an enormous Asian population with Chinese and South Asians making up about 21% of the popluation. The only “bad driving” I see is mostly from taxi drivers, but here, it seems that “batshit crazy” is a job requirement to drive a cab and it makes no difference what your ethnicity is.
Now that said… I recall a couple BBC articles about the Olympics. One was about how the government was running PSA campaigsn to “promote civilized behavior” and targetting in particular spitting, the other was about “queue jumping”, with the latter including pamphlets on how to properly wait in line and a voluntary “wait in line day” (the 11th of every month).
From what I understand, the general population doesn’t really stand in line, everyone kind of pushes their way to the front. So, if that’s the case, could the stereotype have evolved from when cars were introduced? Assuming “pedestrians who push their way to the front” instead of lining up translates to “drivers who cut each other off to push their way to the front” of a line of cars instead of remainin in orderly traffic rows, I’d imagine there would have been some seriously chaotic driving for a bit.
Could that be the source of the stereotype?
Never heard the stereotype about Asians . . . but around here, if anyone’s driving unusually slow, it’s either an elderly white guy or a young black guy.
Around here, in southern Indiana, there is definitely a stereotype of Asians being bad drivers. And I find that in most cases, it’s true. Here I’m talking about Asians who have moved here from Asia, not Asian-Americans.
There are a million rich Korean kids here at IU in brand-spanking-new BMWs, Audis and Mercedes, and they all tend to drive like shit.
In addition to the fact that there are proportionately more Asian new drivers, I think that those that did learn to drive in Asia, drive like maniacs. In Seoul at least, you have to be a very aggressive driver to move a few feet, so now you have aggressive drivers getting a taste of wide open road along with beginners starting at a later age.
I’ll echo this.
Also, on the experience note, I seem to remember seeing some statistics regarding car ownership in Korea a few years back that showed private ownership of vehicles skyrocketing (like quadrupling) in just a few year period in the 90s. So experience levels for the general population was incredibly low for a while.
I’ve also noticed that a LOT of people in Seoul are afraid to drive, even if they do have their license. Mostly women, though. They never get good experience with driving because they can’t drive defensively inside the city, and driving aggressively while practicing just seems too risky.
My wife just got her license at a driving school which is licensed to give the driving test at the school. She only had to bring her paperwork and take the written test at the Center.
The driving school isn’t cheap, but their driving test is easier than the official one.
Unfortunately, driving in Tokyo isn’t easy, and many people who get through the course don’t have enough skills to manage traffic here. The time frame for making lane changes, for example is only a fraction of what it would be elsewhere.
I know a number of people who have become “paper drivers.” They get their licenses, but then don’t practice right away, and lose confidence, so then they don’t drive.
Back when I was working at night security at school, the campus police used to use DWO. This was back in the mid 80s, so the term has been around for a while.
I had always put this stereotype down to sample bias - noticing only events that reinforce your preconceptions - but over the years my opinion has changed.
I have noticed that car accidents in company cars are disproportionally south east asians (SEA).
My own experience in driving and riding a bike. Now if I see an SEA while riding my bike I am very careful. This has saved me from being hit by drivers pulling out from the kerb without looking or swerving in front of me. Also I have noticed that when parking a car older SEA are not very aware of their vehicles dimensions in space. It does not seem to be the case with young SEA people though.
Perhaps this effect is due to learning to drive later in life, if it exist at all. It would be good to have more data.
Based on my observations, it’s completely true. 99% of the bad drivers I encounter are Asian.
I’m from Northern California, which also has a large and longstanding East Asian population.
I am familiar with the claims, but, in my experience, it appears to be a combination of sample bias and looking at the wrong trait. The really bad drivers, in my experience, have a range in ethnicity matching that of the area. What they do tend to share in common is their being older than the population as a whole.
Unfortunately, Lexis-Nexis is not working for me tonight, so I am unable to offer any information as to the origin of the stereotype.
I was in Santa Clara county in the Bay Area in the early eighties when we got a huge influx of Vietnamese immigrants. Instantly jillions of driving schools sprang up and for quite a while all Asian drivers were regarded as being slow or (worse) unpredictable. It got better as time passed and their driving skills increased.
never mind
God, yes. They exist on most university campuses in the US.
Obvously you’ve moved away from the base.
The title of the thread is slow, not bad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Asian driver cut through three lanes of traffic to get off at an exit starting in the fast lane, or running a red right turn signal by driving in the breakdown lane like an idiot did today. The problems I’ve seen are more annoying than dangerous.
Really? Not in New York when I was growing up, and not in California when my kids got their licenses.
I have yet to visit anyplace in Asia where they don’t drive like bats out of hell. And Bangkok! I would never chance driving in this city. Some of the worst drivers in the world.
EDIT: Actually, now that I think about it, Japan and Singapore seemed okay, and maybe Hong Kong, too. But in the developing parts, which is everywhere else, they’re fast and furious.
You should see the taxi drivers here in Seoul. they drive absolutely ridiculously, weaving in and out of traffic like they’re driving motorcycles. If I were to guess where the stereotype came from, I would say its from those Japanese–a population of extremely courteous, careful, and law-abiding drivers unlike any other.