Getting Ready for the Restricted Test

Thinking of getting ready to take the restricted test? That’s great and well done on your progress so far!

The next step to getting ready to take the restricted test is to do some driving practice in Auckland. As you know, Waiheke is limited, in that we don’t have all of the typical traffic and road conditions and types that you need to experience, in order to become a safe driver.

We recommend that you book professional lessons to help you gain experience in each of the skills that you can’t learn on Waiheke, such as: Motorway driving, Town driving, Negotiating traffic lights, Complex intersections, Dual lane roundabouts, Changing lanes on multi-lane roads and Driving in heavier traffic.

We strongly urge learners not to book their practical tests until you have mastered driving off Waiheke. Driving tests cannot be taken on the island.

For professional driving lessons or pre-test assessments in Auckland, we recommend the AA Driving School, who should be able to pick you up from Half Moon Bay for lessons in their dual control training vehicles. You will need at least five lessons in Auckland, at a minimum plus any other driving time off island you can do – the more the better! Remember your 120 hours of driving time target, a proportion of which needs to be done in Auckland.

AA Driving school

If you haven’t already booked your test, we recommend booking a test location near to the Half Moon Bay Sealink Ferry terminal, such as in Glen Innes, Highbrook or Mt Wellington/Silvia Park. All these locations also have good pass rates 🙂

Booking the test

Here is the restricted test booking link at Waka Kotahi NZTA:

https://online.nzta.govt.nz/licence-test/ 

Prepare before hand

We also recommend that you watch these essential videos from Drive.nz, on getting ready for the restricted test. The link below contains four videos:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM3OdwWkytojvIpxs5A5YT3pqkWZjCdCv

Also, download this guide (PDF) to the test, from the Waka Kotahi NZTA:

https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/driver-licence-test-guides/restricted-test-guide.pdf 

In particular, please take careful note of the following test criteria. You are allowed to make one critical error (but not two).

Vehicle

If you are taking your own vehicle, use the checklist below to ensure your vehicle passes it’s WOF. If alternatively you want to use a driving school vehicle, you will (usually) need a few lessons with them first.

Checklist, on the day of your test

• Check your vehicle has:
• a current Warrant of Fitness (WoF)
• a current vehicle licence (registration)
• approved L-plates displayed front and rear if you are on a learner licence
• get someone to help you to do a pre-drive check of the vehicle you’ll be using for the test to make sure it’s in good working order
• has enough fuel to get there, complete the test and get back home
• Use this checklist to help you check your vehicle will pass – https://www.wal.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/checklist-predrive.pdf 
• Bring your current driver licence
• Completed application form (form DL1) and payment
  https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/application-for-driver-licence-dl1/index.html 
• Make sure you know how to get to where your test will start
• Make sure you give yourself enough time to get to the test location on time for the test (if you arrive late, your test will be cancelled and you’ll need to book another time and pay another fee)
• Ensure the passenger seat is clean and tidy for the testing officer to sit on

Remember that if you don’t feel that you are ready, you can easily defer your test. Just go to the NZTA website (https://online.nzta.govt.nz/licence-test/), and change the test date 🙂