I am currently 15 years old and will be turning 16 about 3-4 Months before moving to Vienna Austria from Washington DC in the USA. In the US I will be able to obtain my drivers license about 3 months after turning 16. I am aware that the driving age in Europe is generally 18 (as I have lived in Germany). Is there anyway I would I be able to drive in Austria with a legal US drivers license? We will be living there as US Diplomats, perhaps that affects the answer to this question as well.

Thank you!!!!

-Elijah

I am just about 100% sure you cannot drive in Austria, until age 18, no exceptions. The good news is, none of your friends will be driving either, and public transportation is so excellent, you can safely go about most anywhere you please by yourself or with friends. Even without cars, European kids seem to have much more freedom than American kids.

Here is a listing of where you need an IDP (International Driver's Permit). It is not a license but a translation of your license.

Also check to see if there are any quirky requirements.

You won't need to drive and as Sassafrass says, no one else your age or in your school will be driving either.

orcawhale, our son was in a similar position when we arrived. (The driving age is 18 in Austria; 17 with the permit.) Once he discovered the efficient and affordable public transportation and the fact that all of his friends were using public, he had little interest in driving here and didn't both getting his license until returned to university in the states. Even now, at almost 20, he has no interest in taking our car onto the Autobahn; the skill set required to drive in excess of 130kph is very different from motoring around Metro DC.

And, if you'll be attending AIS, you'll likely be living near enough to walk; near enough to the 35A; or soon discover that traffic is a bear and there is nowhere to park a car, not to mention the hassle of Parkscheine practically everywhere. If you'll be attending VIS, you would be foolish to not ride the U1, which stops across the street from the school.

if you are living as diplomats. Then surely the government department for which your parents will be working for can tell you.
Do you drive with diplomat plates on the car?
Where do you obtain your insurance from?

etc etc
Too many questions and not enough experience on the Diplomatic core on this forum.

Mrs B always take 5 m of string and some electrician's tape, no idea why and it does no harm!

If I have two bags I try and make it so one is not allowed to be opened for the first few days, it just keeps stuff a bit more organised.

nilboburgler: By <i>any</i>chance did you mean to post that on a different thread?

oops, just sitting in the garden in the sun and I think I "fizzed" out

I apologize for the delay in my response, Yes, I would have diplomat plates. I have no experience in insurance so I haven't got a clue what we would be using. Thank you guys so much for responding, I'm sure you'r right, I know the public transportation in Vienna is superb and that there will be hardly be a need to drive... I'll probably lose interest when I see none of my friends are driving either, its just the age I'm at... All my friends are turing 16 and getting their license. Looks like I've got a bit longer to wait!

Thank you So much for helping!

-Elijah

You are such a polite young man. Enjoy Vienna!

oops, just sitting in the garden in the sun and I think I "fizzed" out>>

"sun"? What is this strange thing of which you speak? forsooth it rings a bell within my head but verily the memory thereof is very faint.

Ah, the joys of an English spring... I hear there was even snow recently?

I just booked a week in Dorset for August, maybe things will have thawed out by then. Maybe not...

I already turned the AC on here, although we are currently having a "cold" spell, temps in the high teens/low twenties.

It was 26C here today Ann. Sorry.

I don't thin holding a diplomatic licence makes any difference to the age at which you are allowed to drive in a country btw. Enjoy Vienna. You will be driving yourself soon enough.

Ah, the joys of an English spring... I hear there was even snow recently?>>

yes, snow "up north" last week, sunshine "up country" this week [and to be fair, here as well earlier in the week] rain here now.

Noramlly, you are not allowed to drive in Austria until age 18 regardless of where you got your license and what is allowed in your home country. I don't know if being a diplomat makes any difference, though. If your parent is a diplomat, surely the embassy ought to know.

I don't think that diplomatic immunity extends to family members and it is considered "bad form" to rely on it for day to day matters though of course there are some who exploit it for parking tickets, congestion charges and worse.

Why anyone would want to drive in Vienna with its wonderful public transport and a pair of 17 year old legs is the bigger mystery.

IME people who are FINALLY at the legal age to drive REALLY WANT to do so and it certain;y isn't the least bit mysterious to myself, anyway (sorry, Ann, but it isn't)

Here's the up side for the original poster: OK, your freinds are all getting their licenses but <B>you</B> are moving to Vienna. I know which one I would be the most envious of.

You can drive in Austria (and Germany) before you are 18.
If you don't have any DL yet, you can start with DL17 at age 15 1/2 for a restricted B license (B is for cars).
You would do driving school and most tests while still 16. And the final exam once you turned 17.

Driving school (either for DL17 or the regular DL at age 18) can be pretty expensive - calculate a budget of at least €2K.
From 17-18 you will not be allowed to drive on your own, though. There has to be a designated adult with a valid DL with you in the (also designated) car all the time. Plus you need an L17 sticker for the car.

Austria and Germany have reciprocity on their respective DL17 schemes - but not the other countries you tagged.

For sake of completion (and don't tell your mother I told you):
You CAN already (then at age 16) ride motorcycles up to 125cc which require only the motorcycle A1 permit.
After you did driving school and passed the exams for the (unrestricted) A1 permit.

Driving schools often have schemes to combine A1 and B/DL17 as theroretical tests are somewhat identical.
And you save money compared to the individual training and test schemes.

Any local driving school in Vienna will give you more precise information. And info if you qualify due to your status of residency or not.

"IME people who are FINALLY at the legal age to drive REALLY WANT to do so "

That is a very American viewpoint. I grew up in England and did not immediately rush out to get a license. In fact I think I was 20 before I got one, and a year later I moved to London for a couple of years and didn't use it at all there. My niece, who went to university in Edinburgh and lives in London, has never owned a car and is in her 30s.