Defensive Driving question I can't find an answer for

[Disrespective]

I've had my full car licence for almost 10 years now and did a defensive driving course back then when i was on my restricted and used it to get my full faster.

Now that i'm on my restricted bike license i want to speed up the process again but i've been told i have to wait three months before i can even do a defensive driving course. The kicker is that by the time i can do the defensive course i'll likely be too busy to do it so i want to do it sooner.

So my question is, can i do the defensive driving course on the back of having a full car licence (even though i've already done one for it) and then use the new one at three months time for my 6F?

Hope that makes sense.

[Mikkel]

So my question is, can i do the defensive driving course on the back of having a full car licence (even though i've already done one for it) and then use the new one at three months time for my 6F?.

Yes.

......

[Ixion]

Yes you can. if you were younger it would be different. The three months thing only applies to under 21 (25? youff, anyway)

[Genie]

i think they're right. you can do the DD anytime....shame it dosn't carry over as i did one about 8 years ago.

be good to do another...they are really informative.

[crazyhorse]

This would be one for dangerous bastard to answer - he professes to be an instructor, so should know all the ins and outs of this

[one fast tl1ooo]

This would be one for dangerous bastard to answer - he professes to be an instructor, so should know all the ins and outs of this

:lol: thats funny as dangerousbastard a instructor...... of what??????

[crazyhorse]

:lol: thats funny as dangerousbastard a instructor...... of what??????

Driving other riders who do not have hysoungs crazy? nah, that's not it........ :killingme

[Mikkel]

be good to do another...they are really informative.

...if you don't already know how to operate a vehicle in traffic.

[Rev DJ]

I've had my full car licence for almost 10 years now and did a defensive driving course back then when i was on my restricted and used it to get my full faster.

Now that i'm on my restricted bike license i want to speed up the process again but i've been told i have to wait three months before i can even do a defensive driving course. The kicker is that by the time i can do the defensive course i'll likely be too busy to do it so i want to do it sooner.

So my question is, can i do the defensive driving course on the back of having a full car licence (even though i've already done one for it) and then use the new one at three months time for my 6F?

Hope that makes sense.

If you have done a DD course previously then this qualification still applies. You will need to have the original certificate from the DD course instructor (AA or whoever...) and present this when you go to get your full licence (6F). My DD course cert was almost 15yrs old and was accepted no problems... DJ

[Ixion]

Technically you are correct. However, note that the OP says he used his certificate when he got his class 1. Now, in law, the certificate CAN be reused. All the law says , is you must have done the course.

However, in practice, the driving licence people take the stub off the certificate . And , experience is, that they refuse point blank to allow the certifcate without stub to be reused. They are wrong, but the only way to force them to admit it would be to take them to court. Which is not really worthwhile. Their systems make no provision for people wanting two classes of licence. Bureaucrats fail , yet again.

[MSTRS]

Technically you are correct. However, note that the OP says he used his certificate when he got his class 1. Now, in law, the certificate CAN be reused. All the law says , is you must have done the course.

However, in practice, the driving licence people take the stub off the certificate . And , experience is, that they refuse point blank to allow the certifcate without stub to be reused. They are wrong, but the only way to force them to admit it would be to take them to court. Which is not really worthwhile. Their systems make no provision for people wanting two classes of licence. Bureaucrats fail , yet again.

To the OP...this is your answer.

[psycho22]

Well i'm halfway through my DD and i got told I only had to do the one course as it can be used when getting both my 6F and 1F.The course is stupid though ( maybe just here in Taupo ) because all I have learnt so far is that drinking and driving is actually not cool, nor is taking drugs and then driving. Or that Asians are bad drivers as well as any other tourists and watch out for motorhomes and buses.Duh you think? Only good bit of info was discussing camber.

I'm hoping I will learn something usefull soon but I doubt it.

[Ixion]

Yes, you can do that. Providing you book both tests at the same time. Give them the certifcate and say "This is for both tests". The problem comes if you "use up" the certificate on one test then want to take another later - you no longer have a "complete" certificate. Which sends their little minds into overdrive and they cannot cope. two at once is OK. they'll probably still argue, they always do, just tell them to ring the help line.

[CookMySock]

Technically you are correct. However, note that the OP says he used his certificate when he got his class 1. Now, in law, the certificate CAN be reused. All the law says , is you must have done the course.

However, in practice, the driving licence people take the stub off the certificate . And , experience is, that they refuse point blank to allow the certifcate without stub to be reused.My 16 y/o Son did the DDC and now has 1R,6F. He asked for two certs so they could "tear the bottom off for each" and he was told not to worry about it and some months lather his first cert would be reusable. Shortly he will be eligible to sit his 1F so we will see..

BTW I do not instruct professionally, nor do I have any certification to assess. I simply share what I believe with individuals who wish to receive it, and a few who don't, lol. I could get my cert but it's a lot of money and I can't be effed until such time I would be teaching something worthwhile, and not just basic handling skills to people who really don't want to be there - the system needs an overhaul.

In the meantime I'll practice on you bitches lol.

Steve

[steve_t]

Is the DDC like the Street Talk course I did where you have to identify physical, emotiional, and spiritual factors that affect your ability to drive a car?

[The Stranger]

I'm hoping I will learn something usefull soon but I doubt it.

I'd say that has more to do with the student than the course at a guess. In another thread people are talking about compulsory training. This is exactly the reason it fails. If people simply go along with an attitude of "I know everything already but I have to do this stupid course anyway" they fail to learn. I know I learnt from the DD course. Perhaps the only thing I retained that I can recollect was to not take off from the lights too quick - let someone else take out the red light runner. Simply by being a little slower from the lights it's helped me on a couple of occasions over the last 25 years. It only has to help once. Open your mind.

[The Stranger]

Is the DDC like the Street Talk course I did where you have to identify physical, emotiional, and spiritual factors that affect your ability to drive a car?

spiritual? really?

[sinfull]

I'd say that has more to do with the student than the course at a guess. In another thread people are talking about compulsory training. This is exactly the reason it fails. If people simply go along with an attitude of "I know everything already but I have to do this stupid course anyway" they fail to learn. I know I learnt from the DD course. Perhaps the only thing I retained that I can recollect was to not take off from the lights too quick - let someone else take out the red light runner. Simply by being a little slower from the lights it's helped me on a couple of occasions over the last 25 years. It only has to help once. Open your mind.
The one thing i retained from a DDC i was instructed by the courts to take, back when i was a bad lad, was that when confonted with a head on collision, to stand on the seat of my motorsickle and prepare to be launced over the vehical you are about to hit !

Have no idea why that stuck with me, perhaps it was the amount of laughing i did !

[Genie]

...if you don't already know how to operate a vehicle in traffic.

hello, narrowminded is a word that springs to mind. One can always do with expanding their knowledge and if you learn but one thing from a DDC then it's worth it.
Has nothing to do with driving in trafiic but keeping oneself and others safer on the roads.

[Genie]

I'd say that has more to do with the student than the course at a guess. In another thread people are talking about compulsory training. This is exactly the reason it fails. If people simply go along with an attitude of "I know everything already but I have to do this stupid course anyway" they fail to learn. I know I learnt from the DD course. Perhaps the only thing I retained that I can recollect was to not take off from the lights too quick - let someone else take out the red light runner. Simply by being a little slower from the lights it's helped me on a couple of occasions over the last 25 years. It only has to help once. Open your mind.

for me...it's not looking at the indicators at the roundabout (like not all use them) but to look at which direction their wheels are pointing!!!!
That has been put to the test on many many occassions and not just at roundabouts.
I have even passed that on to my children while teaching them how to cross the road!! Have you noticed how many people don't indicate on suburban streets.

[Disrespective]

Thanks for everyone's replies. So it seems that my original certificate 'should' be okay to re-use but only if i'm lucky will they take it which is a shame. I'm not really keen to do another defensive driving course as i was taught by an old instructor in Tauranga as a kid and then did the full course so feel that i'm pretty well up with the play in that regard. But i guess if push comes to shove i'll have to do another.

Now all i need to know is the full license course for kilbirnie here in wgtn and i'll be away and laughing.

[Disrespective]

Okay, so i finally got a semi-straight answer from LTNZ on this.

As i was under the age of 25 when i did my first DD course i can NOT use it for both the Class 1 and Class 6 licences. One or the other only. On the other hand if i was over 25 when i did the DD course i would be able to use the certificate for both classes of licence.

I got the impression rules could change though and i got no answer to my question of Why? As in, Why would 10 years of driving experience in a car and using the DD principles every day not be as good as someone who was over 25 and had just done it a day ago?

Either way i have to pay another $200 so i can get my licence sooner before i'm too busy. Bummer.

[Bounce001]

That sound like Bullshit to me. I did a DDC 20 years ago to get my car licence faster and was under 25 when I did it. When I sat my licence they never took the certificate off me like they do now so I still had it.

When I sat My full bike licence in May last year they accepted my 20 year old DDC cert. They had to ring and check but it wasn't a problem. They also said they had another one the same in the prevoius week that went through without a problem.

Before they took the cert off me this time I photocopied it so I still have proof that I had done it.

[Ixion]

No , that may be correct. The 25 year old thing is important,as I noted below.

The alw says that if you are under 25, you have to have held your R licence for three months BEFORE starting the DD course. The OP presumably met that requirement when he sat the course. But he didn't have ANY class 6 licence then, so , even though he is now over 25, the certificate cannot be taken to apply to a later class six application.

[Rev DJ]

Okay, so i finally got a semi-straight answer from LTNZ on this.

As i was under the age of 25 when i did my first DD course i can NOT use it for both the Class 1 and Class 6 licences. One or the other only. On the other hand if i was over 25 when i did the DD course i would be able to use the certificate for both classes of licence.

I got the impression rules could change though and i got no answer to my question of Why? As in, Why would 10 years of driving experience in a car and using the DD principles every day not be as good as someone who was over 25 and had just done it a day ago?

Either way i have to pay another $200 so i can get my licence sooner before i'm too busy. Bummer.
No! You are being mucked around! Simply take yr DD cert - even if its minus the stub - into the lic place. They will photocopy it and put it with yr full lic application. Done. If they wont then they need to sort their systems coz heaps of us have done exactly as above!

[pritch]

The one thing i retained from a DDC i was instructed by the courts to take, back when i was a bad lad, was that when confonted with a head on collision, to stand on the seat of my motorsickle and prepare to be launced over the vehical you are about to hit !

Have no idea why that stuck with me, perhaps it was the amount of laughing i did !

Ummm are you sure they weren't telling you to stand on the pegs? :sherlock:

[jono035]

No! You are being mucked around! Simply take yr DD cert - even if its minus the stub - into the lic place. They will photocopy it and put it with yr full lic application. Done. If they wont then they need to sort their systems coz heaps of us have done exactly as above!

I just went through this yesterday and it doesn't work.

I got my DDC 10 years ago (holy hell!) and since then they have obviously changed a lot of stuff. They have to enter the cert number, course operator number and the issue date. This failed on all accounts and took 2 trips to the AA (and 4 hours) to get sorted out. The official word that I was given was that they expire after 6 months. I know this is bull, but when they enter the issue date into the computer and it's over 6 months ago, the system won't let them complete the process.

Thankfully in my case I had already done the practical test because I showed up 45 mins early and didn't make it to the front of the line in time. This gave them a pretty good incentive to get me through. The only reason that this was possible was I said that I had been told by a NZTA helpdesk person that they could be re-used but it still took escalation through 3 different people at NZTA. Apparently they also note every phone call made vs your name/license number so they straight off could see every time I had called (back to 2007) and what questions I had asked, so that very nearly didn't work either.

In short, I would have just re-done the DDC!

[Ratti]

I did the dd thing 22 years ago for my taxi drivers licence.

It was really interesting. I'd be keen to do another one even tho I dont have to. there are alot of things pointed out that one would not necessarily think about in day to day drivng. I am well aware that I know a little bit, and that there is a lot more that would be good to know. Brings things to the front of the brain for a while, maybe to make new pathways and become habit

[jono035]

I did the dd thing 22 years ago for my taxi drivers licence.

It was really interesting. I'd be keen to do another one even tho I dont have to. there are alot of things pointed out that one would not necessarily think about in day to day drivng. I am well aware that I know a little bit, and that there is a lot more that would be good to know. Brings things to the front of the brain for a while, maybe to make new pathways and become habit

Certainly, there is always more to learn or at least to be reminded of. Even just hearing a different point of view on the same idea can help stir things up a bit.

[Disrespective]

Yeah, i just finished the course last week. It was different to the first time i did it and the woman who took it specifically said that it wasn't about teaching you new ideas or techniques, rather it was about reminding you of good habits you should be using every day when driving.

There were definitely a few younger people there who would have learnt a lot of new things, but i don't think i did at all. In saying that i agree that it was a good thing to do again and now want my lady to do one as i've always felt she had a few bad habits that needed to be ironed out but won't listen to me because what would I know...