r/driving•
catboy519

(NL)When to learn theory and plan exam? What theory things do I still need to learn?

Need Advice

I live in the NL. Theory exam after passing is only valid for 1.5 years. I definitely think that getting my license within those 1.5 years should no problem, but, just to be sure because life can often go differently than planned or expected😅!!!!!

Change My View: I think studying theory does not help much in reducing how many driving lessons I need, because I already know most things that commonly occur while driving and the other things are just rare and I dont expect many rare things to happen during my lessons. Am I wrong to thikn this?

The theory exam: when should I do it? Before or during my lessons?

  • If before, then I won't need to worry about retaining information during my lessons
  • If during, then I might learn little pieces of theory in the car which saves me effort and its safer with the 1.5 years

But honestly is there any purpose in being a Theorynerd? Or do I just get in the car with the instructor and hope I have enough knowledge Cuz theres quite alot I already know about real world driving:

  • Expercienced cyclist so I know well how rules inside the city work
  • Watched lots of dashcam and drivingschool videos so I know how driving on the big motorway is like.
  • I have very good knowledge of physics so I have a good deep tehoretical understanding of how exactly to use the gas/brake/clutch/steering in different types of situations
  • I think I know most everyday-rules of driving.

Heres some things that I don't know much about:

  • Theory exam questions that rarely occur in real life
  • Theory exam questions that are just silly and not relevant to real driving
  • What an examiner wants to see when I drive
  • Car specific situations that dont occur on a bike at all in any form
  • How to determine who goes first if there is no rule or light or sign determining it.
  • And ofcourse: I dont know which categories exist that I dont know about.

Basically I want to know

  1. What to learn in theoyr
  2. When to learn the theory
  3. When to do the theory exam

Posted Mar 14, 2026, 12:16 AM UTC

20
Loading comments…