Q 01/05

Which country made a driving certificate compulsory nationwide as early as 1899?

A) Germany

B) France

C) United States

D) Italy

Answer · why

B) France

France moved early: a certificate of capacity first demanded in the capital in 1893 was extended to the whole country by a decree of March 1899.

Q 02/05

Carl Benz got a permit to drive his Motorwagen in 1888 after neighbours complained about what?

A) Its speed

B) Its noise and smell

C) Frightened horses

D) Damaged cobblestones

Answer · why

B) Its noise and smell

Its noise and smell had people in Mannheim cursing the Motorwagen, so in 1888 Benz had his drives approved in writing by the Grand Ducal authorities, ...

Q 03/05

Prussia's compulsory 1903 driving tests were run by a body that supervised what?

A) Railway signals

B) Horse-drawn cabs

C) Steam boilers

D) Gas lamps

Answer · why

C) Steam boilers

Steam boilers were the inspection association's original business; it had begun checking motor vehicles in 1900 and is the forerunner of today's TÜV, ...

Q 04/05

Which European country did not add a practical driving test to its licence exam until 1977?

A) Portugal

B) Greece

C) Ireland

D) Belgium

Answer · why

D) Belgium

Belgium made a written exam compulsory in 1967 but added a test at the wheel only in 1977, long after its neighbours.

Q 05/05

Which US state was the first to require both a driver's licence and a driving exam, in 1908?

A) New York

B) California

C) Michigan

D) Rhode Island

Answer · why

D) Rhode Island

Rhode Island tested its drivers from 1908, five years after Massachusetts and Missouri had issued the country's first licences with no exam at all.