Viral video of China driving test draws comparisons to other countries

Video with than 11 million views provokes laughter and awe on Twitter

A video of a drivers’ licence test in China has gone viral on social media, setting off a trend of comparisons – some jokey, some serious – to standards in other countries.

The video clip, viewed more than 11 million times, was shared by businessman Tansu Yegen on Twitter. “Driver license exam station in China,” he tweeted. It’s not immediately clear when the video was originally filmed.

The footage in the 48-second-long clip has been sped up, showed a driver navigating a zig-zag lane through a figure-of-eight track, parallel parking the car and then driving through another figure of eight in reverse.

The video impressed many social media users and has sparked a mix of praise and other amused reactions.

Other Twitter users have responded to the video with comments about their own countries’s lax driving rules and dangerious situations on the road, with others saying the test is too difficult.

“Looks more like a fast and furious audition,” a Twitter user named Ron said. “So they basically want us to be GTA drivers,” another user said, comparing it to the Grand Theft Auto series of video games.

Several social media users from countries including India, South Africa and Uganda shared memes to suggest people can get driver’s licences in their countries by bribing officials instead of taking a difficult driving test.

Another user pointed out that the difficulty level was similar in Taiwan, sharing a photo of a parking space between S-shaped tracks. “The parallel parking has to be done in one shot, no back-and-forth. If you fail twice, you are out,” the user said.

A Pakistani user identified as Dr Aqsa said: “Thank God its not in Pakistan else I wouldn’t get driving license.”

People in Brazil and Indonesia took a dig at road safety standards in their countries, sharing some of the more extreme videos of people driving in dangerous situations or violating rules.