Melissa got her restricted drivers licence yesterday...

[moosmom]

Carole,

Has she taken you on your official "white knuckle ride" yet??? She must be so proud to have such freedom and independence.

Congratulations Melissa!!

[Taz_Zoee]

Congratulations to Melissa!! My niece (also Melissa) has been driving for a year now, and it is just crazy to think about that.

Can you please explain the levels of driving in New Zealand? I see learners and restricted. What's after restricted?
I'm only familiar with a learners permit, which means you must drive with a licensed driver over the age of 25 in the car with you. And then the drivers license, which means you can drive alone. And now, in California at least, you must have your license for one full year before you are allowed to drive with anyone under the age of 18 in the car with you (without an adult).
So my niece couldn't drive her younger sister or her friends around until she had her license for one full year.

[catfancier]

Ok, our licensing system is as follows:

At the age of 15, anyone can apply to pass their learner's licence, which is a theoretical exam based on the Road Code (our driving rules). You are allowed 3 incorrect answers out of 35. 20 (or maybe 30) of the questions are based on general road rules, and the other 15 (or 5) are based on everything and anything else to do with motoring, licensing a vehicle, road conditions etc. What I find funny is that it's a scratchie test - you scratch away the answer you think is correct. It is conducted at a branch office of the NZ Automobile Association (AA).

Once you have your learners, you can then arrange for driving lessons with an instructor who is over the age of 20 years and holds, and has held, their Full licence for more than 2 years. You have to be on your learners for a minimum of 3 months (if you use an instructor from a driving school) or 6 months (if you use a private instructor) before you can apply to sit your restricted licence.

The restricted licence is based on a 1 hour on-road test. Before you can even get into the car with the testing agent, they do an inspection of your vehicle to ensure that it meets our Warrant of Fitness (WOF) standards. If it doesn't meet the standards, it is an automatic fail. If it does, the testing agent will instruct you on where you should drive and ask you questions while you are driving based on the hazards around you and the situation on the road. You enter higher speed zones (usually no more than 70km/hr). By this time, you should have full control of the car so should just be concentrating on the driving although they do also check that you can and do handle the car correctly.
You hold your restricted for a minimum of 12 months (I think it's a minimum of 6 if you are over 25), and cannot carry passengers - unless it's someone over 20 with their full licence, and you are not allowed to drive between 10pm and 5am. (Hence why it is called the 'restricted').

After you have had your restricted for the minimum period and are confident in your driving abilities, you can apply to sit your full licence. This is a pretty similar test to the restricted, and is usually much easier to pass than going from the learners licence to the restricted. Once you have achieved the full licence, nothing can stop you! I had a practice full licence test with a driving instructor the day before my test and it was the best thing I could have ever done!

Our licensing system is called a 'graduated licensing system' because you have to go through stages before you can call yourself a fully licenced driver. Helps to weed out the bad eggs and the time lengths that you stay on each licence for are designed to give people the most amount of experience behind the wheel possible.

How do other people's compare?

[Taz_Zoee]

Very interesting!! Ours is similar (as I stated above) just minus the restricted license. Well, it's sorta restricted for a year once you have the license.
I actually like your system better. It seems to give the driver more practice and guidelines.
Thank you so much for explaining it.

[carole]

You explained it far better than i could,the test was only half an hour Catfancier, and you have to have your restricted for 18mths unless you complete a defensive driving course and pass, i am intending for Melissa to do that,hopefully she will want to.

Actually i heard the full test is harder than the restricted in some ways, although IMO it should not be,they also are more into hazards situations on the road, that you have to pick up on.

I am not sure what you mean Donna by a white knuckle ride, except that i might be scared, I have to say i have never felt that way with her, i am pretty relaxed when she is driving as she really is very careful and sensible, now my son, well that's another story lol.