American woman living in England reveals how wildly different the driving test is in the UK: 'It's no joke'

When it comes to taking a driving test, the experience can be vastly different depending on where you live. For one American woman living in the UK, the contrast between her US driving test and the UK’s was enough to leave her shocked. She took to TikTok (@yorkshirepeach) to share her experience, comparing the two and highlighting how much tougher the UK version really is.

In her video, she starts by giving a candid reflection on her driving experience, "How different were my USA driving test and my UK driving test? Day and night." She explains how it’s been many years since she took the test in the US, recalling how simple and almost non-existent the process felt back then. "I can only speak for myself. Hopefully, the tests have... gotten a bit harder? No, a lot harder than when I did it. Because it was a joke," she laughs. At 16, when she took the driving test in America, she didn't even have to leave the parking lot of the test center. "There were no driving lessons. Nobody had to do lessons. And I just had to drive around in a circle. Like two circles in the parking lot," she recounts.

It was a straightforward test, mainly to see if she could manage the basic car functions, "Put on my seatbelt. And back into a parking spot. That’s it. No parallel parking, no going onto the road." Fast forward to the UK driving test, and it was a completely different challenge. "When I tell you here, I cried. It took me three times to pass here. I was 32 years old in tears," she reveals. She was overwhelmed by the complexity of the UK test. "You guys are NASCAR-level drivers in this country," she hilariously said. Her driving instructor wasn’t sugar-coating it either, "He was like, ‘I’m really sorry but you can’t drive.' He’s like, and I don’t mean just in the UK like you can’t drive at all. We need to start from scratch.'" And that’s exactly what they did.

The TikTok video also spurred a lot of responses from viewers who shared their own thoughts and experiences about driving tests in both countries. @karenw0703 said, "I bet driving on a country road at night was an eye-opener for you. I hate it and have been driving for nearly 20 years." @eupdandme wrote, "I think it’s wild the USA doesn’t do proper tests! What?!" @bradpittswife69 shared, "UK driving tests are no joke, I have friends in America and it amazes me how easy it is over there compared to here. Your accent is amazing btw, I’ve never heard British and American combined together."

@jillshepherd1 commented, "When I took my American test in the 80s we absolutely went on the road!" @user92710863 said, "I lived in Texas for 5 years and had to take my test over there. Nobody here believes me when I tell them about this. I even hit the pole when I parked and still passed !" @susanandjulie1 quipped, "As a driving instructor that has had a couple of American pupils get a UK license the test standard in the US hasn’t changed a lot since you took yours at 16."

You can follow Yorkshire Peach (@yorkshirepeach) on TikTok for more content on her life in the UK.