Woo! Grats!!!
In Houston, its impossible to live w/o a car or motorcycle though. I learned to drive when I was 14, and got my Ducati motorcycle at 15 and rode it illegally for 7 months until I turned 16 and got my license, heh! Otherwise, I couldn't even visit my friends, as it would be an hour or two on bicycle just to get to their house. Europe has so much public transportation, its totally optional.
Oh, and in Europe the taxes on cars and motorcycles is INSANE! The UK I think taxes not just heavily on fuel (believe its over $5 a gallon), but also on vehicle engine displacement, which is why they have some cars with tiny tiny engines that are both turbocharged on the exhaust and supercharged off the engine to save on taxes. The new Vettes are $38K more expensive in the UK... *gulp* And on my Vette I pay $815 a year for full insurance coverage w/ medical, but most European insurers I'm told charge based on engine displacement... *double-gulp*
Amen to that if its anything like Germany.Originally Posted by mrblanche
I'm sure most Americans don't have any concept of the difficulty of getting a driving license in the UK. You ought to tell us all the steps involved, etc.!
In Houston, its impossible to live w/o a car or motorcycle though. I learned to drive when I was 14, and got my Ducati motorcycle at 15 and rode it illegally for 7 months until I turned 16 and got my license, heh! Otherwise, I couldn't even visit my friends, as it would be an hour or two on bicycle just to get to their house. Europe has so much public transportation, its totally optional.
Oh, and in Europe the taxes on cars and motorcycles is INSANE! The UK I think taxes not just heavily on fuel (believe its over $5 a gallon), but also on vehicle engine displacement, which is why they have some cars with tiny tiny engines that are both turbocharged on the exhaust and supercharged off the engine to save on taxes. The new Vettes are $38K more expensive in the UK... *gulp* And on my Vette I pay $815 a year for full insurance coverage w/ medical, but most European insurers I'm told charge based on engine displacement... *double-gulp*