Driving licence in Surea

In Surea, a driving license (運轉證; unzozen) is the official document which authorises its holder to operate various types of motor vehicle on public roads. Driving licenses are issued by the prefectural governments' public safety commissions and are overseen on a nationwide basis by the National Police Agency. As a licence is required to drive on a public road[1], any person may drive on private land with the consent of the landowner, but it is illegal - regardless of any licence - to drive on any common public land, such as moorland.

Required training
The Surean driving examination consists of a written examination and a practical examination for each level of license. Most Surean go to a licensed driving school prior to taking these examinations, and upon completing the course, register for the examinations in the prefecture where they are registered as a resident. The practical examination consists of driving a vehicle through a purpose-designed driving course while obeying relevant rules of the road.

Surea also allows Surea-resident holders of foreign driving licenses to convert their foreign license to a Surean license through an abbreviated examination process. This consists of an eyesight test and, depending on the issuing country of the foreign license, may also require a short written examination and a practical examination.

Types of licence
Surean licenses are divided by experience level and by vehicle type.


 * Provisional license (臨时運轉證; rinshi unzozen): Issued to new drivers undergoing training for their Class 1 license. Requires the driver to display a learner's mark on the outside of their vehicle, and to have a second licensed driver in the vehicle at all times.
 * Class 1 license (第一種運轉證; daimichisō unzozen): The ordinary license for operating a private automobile.
 * Class 2 license (第二種運轉證; daijīsō unzozen): Required when operating a commercial passenger-carrying vehicle such as a taxi or bus. Driver must be 21 years of age or older and have at least three years of experience driving under a Class 1 license.

Ordinary, heavy motorcycle and ordinary motorcycle license classes are either "unrestricted" (i.e., the driver may use a manual transmission or automatic transmission vehicle) or "restricted to automatic."

The vehicle classes are as follows:
 * Heavy car: Any automobile which weighs 11,000 kg or more, has maximum capacity of 6,500 kg or more, or carries 30 or more people.
 * Medium car: Any automobile which weighs 5,000 kg or more, has maximum capacity of 3,000 kg or more, or carries 11 or more people.
 * Ordinary car: Any automobile outside the other classifications.
 * Heavy special car: Specialized automotive equipment such as tractors or cranes which are used for particular work and are not classified as small special cars.
 * Heavy motorcycle: Any motorcycle with engine displacement over 400 cc.
 * Ordinary motorcycle: Any motorcycle with engine displacement over 50 cc.
 * Small special car: Specialized automotive equipment with a maximum speed of 15 km/h or less AND no larger than 4.7m x 1.7m x 2.8 m.
 * Moped: Any motorcycle with engine displacement of 50 cc or less.