In Croatia, driving lessons are the only way to practise before your exam. Under the Road Traffic Safety Act, candidates are trained by driving schools, the driving lessons are given by a driving instructor, and anyone who trains candidates without authorisation can be fined €660 to €1,990. There is no scheme for practising in a family car with a parent or a friend before you pass.
So the way you use your lessons decides how ready you are. This guide explains who runs the exam, how the drive works, what the numbers say and how to plan your lessons around it.
Who runs the exam
Driving exams in Croatia are run by the Croatian Auto Club (HAK). In 2025 it held exams at 23 exam centres and 56 exam places, organised under four regional centres in Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka and Split, for 359 driving schools across the country.
Since January 2021 every driving exam has been recorded on audio and video, and the exam car must not carry a visible driving-school roof sign. HAK has recorded more than 540,000 driving exams this way.
How the exam drive works
The driving part of the exam usually starts with set manoeuvres on a training ground and continues on public roads in everyday traffic, including town streets with 30 and 50 km/h limits and, where possible, country roads and faster roads. There is no published list of exam routes, so the useful preparation is knowing the road network around your exam place rather than one loop.
What the numbers say
HAK's figures for 2025 show 83,251 category B driving exams taken and 40,026 candidates who passed the whole category B exam, so roughly two driving exams were taken for every new category B driver. Across all categories, 52.09% of driving exams were passed.
Each failed attempt means another exam date and, usually, more lessons in between. Lessons spent on the right roads before the first attempt are the best value you will get.
A lesson plan that works
- Agree a plan with your instructor. Early lessons build control: clutch, steering, smooth braking and moving off on hills. Later lessons should move to the roads around the place where you will be examined.
- Keep the manoeuvres sharp. The training-ground manoeuvres come first on exam day, so keep practising them right up to the end of your course.
- Mix the road types. Make sure your lessons cover 30 km/h zones, busy 50 km/h town roads, roundabouts and, where your area has them, faster roads out of town.
- Preview before you drive. Look at the route at home before the lesson, so lesson time goes on driving rather than on finding your way.
- Finish with mock exams. In the last lessons, ask your instructor to give directions only, the way an examiner would, and talk the drive through afterwards.
- Keep a short note. After each lesson, write down one thing that went well and one thing to work on next time.
Common mistakes on the exam drive
- Roundabouts. Choose your lane early and signal clearly before your exit.
- Speed changes. Limits switch often between 30 km/h zones, 50 km/h town roads and faster roads, so look out for the signs and be at the new speed as you pass them.
- Narrow streets and hills. In older town centres and coastal towns, plan ahead for oncoming traffic and keep good clutch control on steep slopes.
- Hesitation. Waiting too long when it is safe to go holds up traffic. Knowing the roads helps you judge gaps with confidence.
SteerClear practice routes in Croatia
SteerClear has more than 450 practice routes around 68 HAK exam centres and places in every county and the City of Zagreb, including HAK Zagreb, HAK Split, HAK Rijeka, HAK Osijek and HAK Zadar. A typical route is about 17 km and takes just under half an hour, and most include at least one roundabout. These are practice routes on the roads around each centre, not the route an examiner will choose on the day.
Bring SteerClear to your lessons
Pick your exam centre in the SteerClear app and preview its routes at home, so you know where the tricky junctions and speed changes are before you get in the car. At the start of a lesson, show your instructor the route you would like to drive and drive it together, with turn-by-turn navigation and live scoring. The score after each drive shows you both what improved and what to work on in the next lesson, and Mac, your AI driving coach, helps you decide what to practise next.
Find your centre among the 68 on the Croatia exam centres page, read the Croatian practical driving test guide, and download SteerClear to plan your next lesson.