NZTA data provided to Hawke's Bay Today shows Hastings has a 51 per cent pass rate for restricted licence tests. Photo / Paul Taylor
NZTA data provided to Hawke's Bay Today shows Hastings has a 51 per cent pass rate for restricted licence tests. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hastings has one of the lowest restricted driving test pass rates in New Zealand but Napier has one of the highest, statistics for the 2020 year reveal.
But VTNZ Hastings, which runs the test in the city for the New Zealand Transport Agency, says it is not setting anyone upto fail and those who do fail would not be safe on the region's roads.
Hawke's Bay Today has been inundated with stories of young drivers who have failed the test multiple times in Hastings, only to give up and try in Napier, where they have passed.
None have been prepared to go on the record, many citing a need to sit their full licences with similar instructors in future, but told the paper the test had felt harder in Hastings.
Data provided to Hawke's Bay Today by Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency shows Hastings had the second-lowest restricted licence pass rate in the country in 2020 (51 per cent), behind only Frankton VTNZ, which failed more than it passed (41 per cent).
Of the 1609 restricted tests sat in Hastings in 2020, 818 were passes and 791 resulted in a fail.
Just a 20-minute drive away, Napier had a much higher pass rate - 1738 restricted tests were sat with 1256 passes and 482 fails, a 72 per cent pass rate.
There were 447 tests sat in Dannevirke in 2020 with 283 passes and 164 fails, for an overall pass rate of 62 per cent pass rate.
The data refers to the number of Class 1 (car) restricted licence tests sat as part of the Graduated Driver Licensing System (GDLS), not the number of individual people.
Restricted_licence_pass_rate
VTNZ operations support manager James Law said VTNZ is aware Hastings has a lower pass rate than other areas in the region, but it was within a reasonable average for pass rates.
"This is not about pass or fail rates, it's about road safety and ensuring new drivers are safe on our roads."
He said there were no pass/fail quotas for testing and there were many reasons for variations in pass rates between testing areas.
Tests took place on a predefined route with a number of specific driving tasks such as turns and lane changes, and were signed off by the NZTA.
For full licence tests in 2020, the pass rate was much higher at 83 per cent in Hastings and 95 per cent in Napier. Interestingly, in Dannevirke it was just 64 per cent.
One person whose son had recently tried to get their restricted in Hastings spoke about the expense of having to resit tests.
A learner licence costs a total of $93.90 including the application and test fee, a restricted licence $134.80 and a full licence $109.50.
If a test is failed or terminated, people have to pay another test fee when they rebook, but not another application fee.
The restricted licence test fee is $45.70, restricted $86.20 and full $59.90.
"My son had to sit three times, even though a driving instructor told him he was ready to sit.
"It's an expensive exercise getting your licence. A cost that is out of reach for many, especially if you have to resit. No wonder we have so many unlicensed drivers."
WHY PEOPLE FAIL THEIR RESTRICTED (NATIONWIDE AVERAGES):
• Fails to give way to traffic (24 per cent of total failures)
• Travelling 10km/h over the speed limit (22 per cent)
• Failing to stop at a stop sign (17 per cent)
• No head check and mirror check when required (15 per cent)
• Travelling between 5-9km/h over the speed limit (10 per cent)
