Why I don't have a Swedish driver's license

If you have an American driver's license you can legally use it for one year in Sweden, after which you are required to get a Swedish one. You could risk the penalty and continue to use your US one, with the assumption that nobody is actually going to check to see how long you have been here, that is what most people do. Why? Because getting a Swedish DL is like going to the dentist when you don't have any insurance, it is very annoying and it costs a lot. A huge lot. Like at the least 500 dollars lot. What do you get for that kind of cash? Well, you get a medical exam, behind the wheel training, a written theory test AND a swing on the "skid course". Which is a sort of course set up to simulate hazardous and extreme driving conditions like ice, snow, water or when "The Joker" by the Steve Miller Band comes on the radio right when you need to merge and you get the sudden temptation to swerve directly into the median in the hopes that the radio will explode upon impact.

A lot of people avoid getting a driver's license here in Stockholm, which is understandable. The public transportation is phenomenal whilst parking garages and parking permits cost quite a bit...not to mention insurance, gas and the price of the car itself. But, say you decide you want one. Is there an alternate, less complicated and less expensive way to get one? There is. Or at least that is what I was led to believe when I saw this in the paper this morning on the way to work...

Go figure. It is apparantely so bad that according to this advertisement, which reads "Get a foreign driver's license! Which you can exchange for a Swedish one. We'll help you!", it is less arduous to go to Norway and get a Norwegian DL and then swap that over for a Swedish one. Considering Norway is even more expensive than Sweden, this is saying a lot for how aggrevating and costly the Swedish process is. Hence, I have no Swedish driver's license. But if I did...

K. Panda