Avoiding the fails that trip up restricted licence drivers – John Williamson

You really need to be on your game when you go for your restricted driving practical test. Photo / 123rf

A family member failed her restricted driving test a couple of weeks ago, coincidentally in the same week that Minister of Transport Chris Bishop announced changes to the Driver Licensing System.

She was off to university the next week, living in the central city hostel with no need for a restricted driver licence. So, apart from a slightly bruised ego, she will re-sit when she visits home and life will go on.

It is interesting, though, the reasons she failed. One was not moving quickly enough through a roundabout, and the other was nudging the kerb as she reversed into a car park. My reaction was ”join the club”.

How many of us will admit to slight hesitation when moving into traffic, and, do we all do a perfect parallel park every time without nudging the kerb?

The multiple reasons why learner drivers fail their restricted driving test will be detailed later in this column.

The changes that Bishop has announced put greater importance on this restricted driving practical test, as evidence of the learner’s ability to drive unaccompanied on the open road.

These changes are:

• No more full licence practical driving test. Once a learner has their restricted licence, so long as they have a clean driving record for the next 12 months, with no demerits which includes a zero-alcohol driving tolerance, then the full licence should arrive in the mail. This is consistent with most international driver testing regimes.
• Learner drivers must spend 12 months before sitting their restricted licence. This can be reduced to six months if the learner can produce evidence of specific recorded supervised driving hours, or completing an approved practical driving course.
• There will be stronger oversight of driver training providers with NZTA gaining new powers to monitor and suspend driver training course providers.
• The cost of gaining a full driver’s licence will be reduced by $80 under the new system, with the changes coming into effect from January 25, 2027.

A greater emphasis will come on the restricted driving test, with the hazard perception test, currently in the full licensed driving test, being incorporated into the restricted test.

This hazard perception test requires the applicant to verbally describe the hazards and their response to them, as they proceed through the driving test.

Currently just over 50% of learner drivers pass their restricted driving test first time, which means almost 50% fail their first driving test.

There are two types of error which cause you to fail your restricted driving test. These are immediate fail errors, where the test should be called off immediately, and critical errors, which, theoretically, you are allowed up to two, before you automatically fail.

Immediate failures include:

• Not stopping – not coming to a complete stop at a stop sign, or red traffic light, or a yellow light if there is safe time to stop, or before a railway crossing with the lights flashing.
• Not giving way – which includes intersections and merging traffic, pedestrian crossings and one-lane bridges.
• Intervention – if the testing officer has to intervene to stop you doing something dangerous, it’s an immediate failure.
• Collision – if you hit the kerb, another vehicle, pedestrian, or street furniture, and it’s fully or partially your fault, you immediately fail.
• Not carrying out the testing officer’s instructions.
• Dangerous positioning – stopping on railway crossings, pedestrian crossings, hatched intersections, or driving over part of a traffic island or a roundabout, causes an immediate failure.
• Speeding – exceeding the posted speed limit by more than 10km/h, or between 5 and 10km/h for more than five seconds, you might get a ticket, as well as a failure.
• Other dangerous actions – taking your eyes off the road, looking at your cell phone, overtaking on a solid yellow line, approaching an intersection in the wrong lane, following too close or even using cruise control, could cause the examiner to fail you.

Critical errors are about the examiner making a judgment call, of which you may be allowed up to two.

They include: speeding more than 5km/h but less than 10km/h over the limit; driving too slow; hesitation at intersections or roundabouts; unnecessary stopping; not signalling at least three seconds before your intended action; not looking at your mirrors and checking for blind spots; not checking both ways at intersections or railway crossings; stalling a manual car; mounting the curb; cutting corners, and numerous other illegal actions which may not necessarily pose immediate threat or danger to others.

You really need to be on your game when you go for your restricted driving practical test. Nervousness, which may be reflected in a lack of confidence or ability, is a natural part of the territory. This is where an understanding and empathetic testing officer can make all the difference.

In conclusion, I’m just reflecting that I turned 78 this week. In two years, I will need to be on my game to retain my driver’s licence. That’s a different test. It’s a cognitive test where I need to prove that I’ve still got all my marbles. That’s for another time, and another story.