This section provides detailed information about the restricted licence test (RLT). It will help professional driving instructors and coaches work with learner drivers as they prepare for the RLT, but it should not take the place of well-structured and comprehensive lesson plans, together with high levels of supervised driving experience in a broad range of driving situations.
In preparing for the test, the NZ Transport Agency recommends that all learner drivers and their coaches become familiar with this test guide, the road code and the DRIVE programme. These resources contain all the necessary information for learner drivers to develop the skills required to become safe drivers and subsequently be ready to sit the test.
DRIVE, a free website and learning tool created by the Transport Agency and ACC is designed to help young people become confident, capable drivers. There is a section on the restricted licence test explaining how to prepare for the test, and how the test is marked giving examples of critical and immediate fail errors and detailing what will happen during the test.
There are also some videos showing how to conduct a number of driving manoeuvres for beginner, intermediate and experienced drivers.
www.drive.govt.nz(external link)
The restricted licence test is designed to assess whether the skills of the learner driver are at a level where they can drive safely without a supervisor in the vehicle (under certain conditions).
The test assesses a learner driver’s ability to competently, safely and legally drive a motor vehicle on a road in various road and traffic conditions. This section provides detailed information on how the test will be conducted, what driving errors could result in a critical error or immediate failure error being recorded and the road layouts you are likely to encounter on the test.
The test will take around 60 minutes. This time allows for vehicle checks before the test, the driving test itself and time for the testing officer to provide feedback on the applicant’s performance after the test.
A learner driver is more likely to pass the test if they have had at least 120 hours supervised driving experience covering the road layouts shown for each of the assessable tasks in this section.
The test is undertaken on test routes that have been developed according to a set of standard requirements. This ensures that all test routes used are of a nationally consistent standard.
A testing officer undertakes many tasks during the test including directing the applicant around the route, observing and marking driving behaviour and keeping an eye on safety.
Because of this, it is unlikely that the testing officer will have time to engage in conversation with the applicant. Ensure the applicant is aware of this, is prepared for it and is not offended by it.
