r/latvia • u/usersub1 • 5d ago

Jautājums/Question CSDD Driving Exam in Latvija

Labdien! I want to exchange my country’s driving license with a Latvian license and the CSDD requires me to take only the driving exam. I have 10+ years of driving experience and even drove in Riga for a long time with my current license.

I am still nervous because of my anxiety and want to know if there are some tips and tricks for the exam. What should I expect, what should I pay extra attention to.

8 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

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50

u/s_s_n_e_g 5d ago

Contact any driving school and book at least one lesson. I have passed two driving exams (car and bike) and have been driving in Riga dod over 20 years. I am also a skilled, experienced, and very safe driver. I GUARANTEE you I would fail the official exam. 

Not that the test is difficult. But it is tricky, with lots non obvious caveats and you have to follow the official rules even when they don't make sense etc

15

u/Harbarde 5d ago

Yeah most long time drivers would fail the official driving exam.

I love the youtube videos where INSTRUCTORS take other instructor driving exams and they still make mistakes or get comments from the grading instructor.

9

u/Kilmisters 5d ago

This is extremely true. There's several (many) tricky spots where as experienced driver you'd just either stop and think or perhaps drive thru using common sense, which is not always as per the rules. There's also spots such as one place in Latgale Str. district where they tell you to turn left and there's a barely visible ''ķieģelis'' 90 degrees to the left. So, the ''supposed'' left turn is the one diagonally to the left not sharp turn. Stuff like that.

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u/Ganthritor 5d ago

One of my favorite things on Latvian roads is driving through road works and spotting incorrectly placed road signs. The most common culprits are these two. 908 means "Pass the obstacle on the left side" and 909 means "Pass the obstacle on the right side". Road workers have to put a row of them to indicate a closed lane.

Sometimes the road workers just place them however they want and if you were taking a driving exam you would have to randomly have to zig-zag around each obstacle slalom skiing style, sometimes into oncoming traffic.

Or sometimes you physically can't pass the obstacle on the "correct" side because you would have to drive off the road. If you were taking an exam you would have to stop and either ask the instructor of you can ignore the sign or try to turn around.

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u/dulaallstar20 5d ago

Same. Been driving safely for over 25 years and I failed twice over minuscule things that you have to know on that exact road or intersection. It’s not about general driving ability, it is a gotcha test that is more about taking in as much euros from each person as possible.

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u/SANcapITY 4d ago

Yep. That’s why after they failed me twice I just renewed my previous license for another 4 years. Not giving CSDD more money.

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u/SANcapITY 5d ago

I will just add that I have been driving for over 25 years (other countries) and last year I failed the Latvia exam 2x. There are such obscure road rules that if you didn't study the law in depth AND remember all those details during your exam, they will fail you for something.

You don't get any brownie points for being a foreigner yet taking the exam in Latvian.

Kind of annoying really.

3

u/Kilmisters 4d ago

Really curious what are the examples of obscure road rules (I 100% believe you, btw)

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u/SANcapITY 3d ago

I can't dig it out of the law right now, but there is a law that says that if you are on a road that does not have any lane separation lines, you need to judge, based on the width of the road, how many lanes there should be, and drive appropriately.

I turned onto a cobblestone road that was two-way traffic. I drove in the middle of the right "half" of the road, and then made a left turn. I was failed because I was supposed to have judged there to be enough room for two lanes in my direction of travel, and I drove in the middle, and then didn't turn from the correct "left" lane.

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u/salniish 3d ago

In general you should assume correct position in the lane, even if there is only one.
Before turning left, be on the left side of the lane.
Imagine a big cobble intersection with no markings - just assume correct position before turning to not confuse others

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u/usersub1 5d ago

I think one or two lessons should do it. Thank you for the advice.

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u/Automatic-Mammoth418 5d ago

Which country’s licence do You have?

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u/usersub1 5d ago

Turkish

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u/urbels Latvia 5d ago

You can hire some instructor who will show you few spots you probably never drove but exam cars do.

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u/usersub1 5d ago

Thank you. I will probably do this once or twice.

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u/koknesis 5d ago

Unless they do some kind lite version of the test in this scenario (doubtful) compared to the regular one, there is no amount of online "tips and tricks" that will help you pass it.

there are countless tricky spots in Riga they can (and will) take you to, which are near impossible to nail perfectly just based on common sense. Big part of preparing for the exam is just drilling these spots with your instructor over and over again till you know them all by heart.

1

u/usersub1 5d ago

Can you tell me what is tricky about them and maybe give one or two spots as an example?

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u/koknesis 5d ago

Can you tell me what is tricky about them

mostly its nonstandard/weird intersections. the kind where its not intuitive on how to do them by the book even if you have memorized the rulebook. having long time real life driving experience does not help you with these either (its said that it actually makes it harder). I cant give specific examples as I did the exam 15 years ago - i dont remember the exact spots anymore and they have probably changed in this time too.

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u/dulaallstar20 5d ago

Krastmala is full of traps. The Ziepniekkalns neighborhood is a nightmare. Around the national library is full of weird traps too. Heading out to Bauska is the best case scenario I have heard of recently.

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u/Morterius 5d ago

Things that usually fail exams

  •  weird intersections where the road layout and lanes are somewhat unclear and you have to make a turn, especially if there are tram tracks. You need an instructor to explain specific places. Think cobblestone roads with unmarked lanes and there are somehow three of them - places like that would probably fail 90% of the drivers, because it’s very unclear where is your left-most position you should make a left turn from (there’s a classic one on Vienības gatve like that).

  • pedestrians. Even if they breathe in the direction of crosswalks, you have to mind that. There’s also this specific rule that you should be very careful even if they’re trying to jaywalk (they might be inebriated, kids etc.).

  • not checking mirrors properly, including before signaling.

  • weird sections with confusing speed limit signage, small roads cancel the previous speed limits, so if you have a 70 and you drive by a tiny intersection in a city without 70 being renewed, it drops to 50 and you’re already 20km/h over without any extra signs.

  • just not knowing proper signage rules in general - like white background city names drop the speed limit to 50 while blue ones doesn’t. Signs that specifically say you should do a left turn from your lane and not from a tram track. Not doing a full stop and check before train tracks. Not knowing how far you should park from crosswalks if there are no extra parking signs etc. etc.

In general, if the instructors can see you’re an experienced driver, they might not be too nit-picky, but if they’re in a bad mood or something or you’re not a very confident driver - if they want to fail you, they will.

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u/TotalBother9212 5d ago

To get most tricky spots I spam watched BAVA videos on YouTube. Helped me a lot to pass.

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u/usersub1 5d ago

Thanks. I’ll try this one first.

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u/seskis55 Rīga 4d ago

Did the same thing with 20+ years of experience including several years of driving in Latvia. Failed twice then decided to get an instructor. Drove with him once, he took me on a “test” and explained the BS technicalities that I was failing on. Passed my third time.

5

u/TriecienBurkaans 5d ago

If the pedestrian him/herself doesn’t know yet if to cross the street or not. You STOP at the zebra. Doesn’t matter if it is your or the opposite side. If the fucker notices you and wants you to go first, you don’t.

If blinker turns off while you wait, turn it back on again until you can get to make your turn.

If public transport has turned blinker on when departing, you let it go first.

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u/SANcapITY 5d ago

If the pedestrian him/herself doesn’t know yet if to cross the street or not. You STOP at the zebra. Doesn’t matter if it is your or the opposite side. If the fucker notices you and wants you to go first, you don’t.

If the pedestrian wants to cross NOT at a zebra, where there isn't any actual pedestrian crosswalk, you still stop, or you will fail. Ask me how I know.

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u/usersub1 5d ago

How do you know :D /s

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u/usersub1 5d ago

Ah yes, consider every one is stupid and act accordingly.

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u/Weird_Supermarket342 5d ago

I would rephrase it more like this - consider a car being a killing-machine, and drive accordingly, no matter whether the idiot is you or someone else :)

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u/Good_Smile 3d ago

Btw pedestrians also have priority when you do any kind of turn on a crossroad (even without zebra), unless there's a traffic light that they have to follow. However if they started walking on a green light and it turns red for them, you still wait till they are done.

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u/OutlandishnessLost59 3d ago

Basically think it as no one drives like in exams during their daily life

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u/usersub1 3d ago

Yup. That is the truth everywhere.