Hawke’s Bay high schoolers hope for licence reforms to ease driving test stress

From left: Hannah Field, Abby Brown and Belle Medlicott at Napier Girls' High School. Photo / Jack Riddell

Three Hawke’s Bay high schoolers are hoping the Government’s proposed plan to remove the full driver test goes through, so future drivers don’t share their “unnecessary” experiences.

Napier Girls’ High students, Abby Brown, 17, Belle Medlicott, 17 and Hannah Field, 18, say the restricted licence practical test is already so difficult and complex that “it leaves the full test unnecessary”.

Abby and Belle hold their full driver’s licence while Hannah is still on her restricted.

Hannah had to sit her restricted four times before she passed, as did Belle.

Hannah said the restricted test environment was such an intense environment that it affected her driving.

“I was so worried about having to do separate things right that I wasn’t actually able to do it because I was forgetting other things. It just wasn’t natural,” Hannah said.

“It was a lot stricter, I felt, and it was a lot longer,” Abby said.

“Whereas the full licence, I just felt like I was driving along normally and [the test instructor] was like, ‘don’t worry, the restricted is a lot more intense’.“

Belle failed her full licence test the first time but succeeded on her second try.

She said the restricted test had made her so anxious that it affected her performance during her full licence test, despite it being a short test comparatively.

“It was just a lot of nerves for no reason that tripped me up,” she said.

In April, Minister for Transport Chris Bishop announced a range of suggested changes to the licensing system, including removing the full-licence practical test and introducing safety mitigations for people on their learner or restricted licence.

Bishop said at the time about one million adults in New Zealand did not have a full driver’s licence, and nearly half of them have no licence at all.

The Government was proposing the changes to make the process “more accessible, efficient and affordable”.

Public consultation on the changes closed on June 9.

Despite none of the girls making submissions on the proposed changes because of their studies, they all agreed that the changes needed to be made as they will make the road safer thanks to the lower demerit threshold.

And with the current cost of about $300 to go from a learner licence to a full - without any failures - the lower cost of the new system would encourage more people to get their full licence.

A Ministry of Transport spokesperson said they were analysing submissions and would be advising the Minister on the outcome of the consultation.

The spokesperson said Bishop was expected to make an announcement in the coming months, once Cabinet has agreed to any changes.

Then, pending Cabinet approval, the Minister intended the changes to be implemented by July 1, 2026.

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and spent the last 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier.