Wannabe drivers are waiting a month or more to sit their driving test in the Waikato, according to driving instructors.
Others are coming to the region or shifting testing centres in a bid to get on the road faster.
And the NZ Transport Agency says it's urgently working to bring wait-times down.
In Hamilton, average waiting time for a full licence is 19 days, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) said.
The average wait for a restricted licence test was 20 days. But some Waikato driving instructors were aware of longer waits - or people manoeuvring to avoid them.
The NZTA target was to have applicants sit a practical test within two weeks of booking, national manager for delivery Robyn Elston said.
"We are working urgently with our driver testing contractor to bring in additional staff to provide more capacity for testing and reduce waiting times for test."
Waikato driving instructors had heard a few stories of the wait from their students.
Progress School of Driving's Brian Evans was aware of students with "quite a long wait" for a test in Hamilton.
"When they've booked, they can't get in until March," he said.
"I've had some students go into Taupo because they can get in sooner."
Dave Terry of Accelerate Driving School had similar stories.
A student who had last week booked in Morrinsville had to wait until February 17 to sit the test, and he understood Te Awamutu was booked out until March.
"A lot of people have tried to go to Tokoroa . . . just because the local areas are backed up."
And Aucklanders were eyeing up Thames. Ron Agnew Driving Education had been getting about a call a week from people wanting a lesson before sitting their test in the town, Agnew said.
He'd recently had clients from Waiuku, Waikato Heads - and Te Kuiti.
Thames had two testing officers working this year as opposed to the usual one, he said.
"They're trying as hard as they can."
New legislation and the time of year could be behind the backlog, according to NZTA.
Nationally, bookings for tests were about 20 per cent higher than predicted and had been increasing over the past 10 months, Elston said.
Some of that could be due to new limits on how long people could stay on learner and restricted licences.
A limit of five years came into force on December 1 - after that time the driver must sit another theory test to renew the licence.
Waiting times for tests also tended to be longer after the holiday period because many testing officers went on holiday, Elston said.
"The combined effect of the backlog from 2014 with the reduction in test slots available during the holidays has seen average waiting times for tests increase significantly in some parts of the country."
Others are coming to the region or shifting testing centres in a bid to get on the road faster.
And the NZ Transport Agency says it's urgently working to bring wait-times down.
In Hamilton, average waiting time for a full licence is 19 days, the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) said.
The average wait for a restricted licence test was 20 days. But some Waikato driving instructors were aware of longer waits - or people manoeuvring to avoid them.
The NZTA target was to have applicants sit a practical test within two weeks of booking, national manager for delivery Robyn Elston said.
"We are working urgently with our driver testing contractor to bring in additional staff to provide more capacity for testing and reduce waiting times for test."
Waikato driving instructors had heard a few stories of the wait from their students.
Progress School of Driving's Brian Evans was aware of students with "quite a long wait" for a test in Hamilton.
"When they've booked, they can't get in until March," he said.
"I've had some students go into Taupo because they can get in sooner."
Dave Terry of Accelerate Driving School had similar stories.
A student who had last week booked in Morrinsville had to wait until February 17 to sit the test, and he understood Te Awamutu was booked out until March.
"A lot of people have tried to go to Tokoroa . . . just because the local areas are backed up."
And Aucklanders were eyeing up Thames. Ron Agnew Driving Education had been getting about a call a week from people wanting a lesson before sitting their test in the town, Agnew said.
He'd recently had clients from Waiuku, Waikato Heads - and Te Kuiti.
Thames had two testing officers working this year as opposed to the usual one, he said.
"They're trying as hard as they can."
New legislation and the time of year could be behind the backlog, according to NZTA.
Nationally, bookings for tests were about 20 per cent higher than predicted and had been increasing over the past 10 months, Elston said.
Some of that could be due to new limits on how long people could stay on learner and restricted licences.
A limit of five years came into force on December 1 - after that time the driver must sit another theory test to renew the licence.
Waiting times for tests also tended to be longer after the holiday period because many testing officers went on holiday, Elston said.
"The combined effect of the backlog from 2014 with the reduction in test slots available during the holidays has seen average waiting times for tests increase significantly in some parts of the country."
No comments:
Post a Comment