Restricted Licence

[SuperDave]

Well I just came back from taking my restricted licence practical test.

What a waste of time and money - it's really bullshit. I paid $80 to let a 50 or so old women follow me in a pulsar and say that I am capable of riding? What kinda shit is this? Please tell me how someone who does not ride is a capable judge?

It really needs to be improved, or else I think they should just scrap it. It seems like a revenue collecting machine more so than a graduated system of testing to see if one can ride.

[Riff Raff]

Yes it's total crap. Takes 10 minutes and all you do is a short ride where there are no real skills demonstrated. Money maker??? I think so!

[Mencius]

Well I just came back from taking my restricted licence practical test.

What a waste of time and money - it's really bullshit. I paid $80 to let a 50 or so old women follow me in a pulsar and say that I am capable of riding? What kinda shit is this? Please tell me how someone who does not ride is a capable judge?



Because they are judging whether or not you are capable of following the road rules properly.

Ang

[scooterboynz]

but did you pass? thats what matters!

[Waylander]

Because they are judging whether or not you are capable of following the road rules properly.

Ang
It's still BS. If they knew how to ride they would better be able to determine if you would actually be a safe rider and not some nut who only followes the rules when they are being watched. Waita sec, that's what I do:confused: :done:
J/K

[nodrog]

yeah mate it does seem pretty pointless, just be thankful you didnt have her on the back holding on for dear life while you had to give a running commentary of what you were doing and what hazards you could see, like the cage drivers have to do these days! i take it you passed then? :niceone:

[jrandom]

What a waste of time and money...

Don't come down so hard on it.

I know several people who've failed restricted tests for motorcycle and car licences. Yes, it's possible.

It may be a short test, but you can't pass it without demonstrating a working knowledge of the Road Code, and good machine control.

I think the process is perfectly adequate. Any further testing could only be in regard to advanced machine control in a closed-course environment. That would be very expensive - if it was made a mandatory part of licencing, it would probably mean that lots of people, yourself possibly included, wouldn't be able to afford to go through the system, and would either be denied transport or just end up riding/driving illegally. And that would help nobody.

[SuperDave]

I'm aware that it is testing if you can follow the road rules correctly, but I thought I proved that when I went and passed my restricted car and full car licence.

But in my opinion, if a rider manages to fail their restricted then its a miracle that they havn't experienced any serious harm while riding on the road for the minimum of 6 months up until the test.

[Aaron]

The current system has many loopholes that allow the potential for unskilled riders to get onto the road 'full time'.

This is why Land Transport New Zealand is trialing the advanced rider training courses through various driving instructors throughout NZ. If it works out then they'll probably move to this as the way for getting your licence. Test bunnies like myself will be monitored by the LTNZ for the next two years. If I have a crash (or other event that comes to their attention), it could work against the program, conversly if I'm an excellent example of what the program can produce it will work in it's favour.

(Got my restricted today too :banana: )

The course I did a couple of weeks back went from 8:30 to 17:00, theroy for the morning, practical stuff in the afternoon.

Worth every penny.

[Coyote]

I still have to wait untill June to get my restricted, feels like forever

[Mencius]

I'm aware that it is testing if you can follow the road rules correctly, but I thought I proved that when I went and passed my restricted car and full car licence.

But in my opinion, if a rider manages to fail their restricted then its a miracle that they havn't experienced any serious harm while riding on the road for the minimum of 6 months up until the test.

For a start off not everyone has their restricted/full car license. I have had my learner car license for two years, but I haven't driven since 1991. There is nothing to stop me going and sitting my restricted car license tomorrow, apart from the fact I can't drive.
There is no reason you can't have your learner motorcycle license for some time and do the restricted test without previously haven ridden (much).


Ang

[bugjuice]

congrats guys, on passing your restricted!! At least you can now ride without the L plates and not feel a tad guilty about it! (hope you were guilty if you did!)

I do think it's a bit of joke sometimes. I still remember getting my learners. I did less than 30 mins on a clapped out 125cc 'thing' and a top speed of about 40kph in a car park. I went round a dozen cones, then all of a sudden, I'm qualified to go out on the road! I have had my full license for years from the UK and converted to NZ too, but what happens if you've never driven a car? You are allowed to hit the road with little knowledge and go for it? I couldn't imagine learning/setting out to drive without my Irish driving instructor.. What happens those cases?

[inlinefour]

Might be a waste of time for those who know to ride, but hey is anyone here too scared to proove that they can?
Might be expensive these days, but what ain't and you'll get feck all for free.
And more importantly I'm sure that it keeps some dickwads that should not be in a cage, let alone on a bike, off bikes. And that is whay I think its a bloody good idea. Besides way back when I did mine I was with a Magpie and he was on a bike also. Was a blardy good ride and after I passed and got to know the dude, he'd stop me every Friday night as a snot nosed teenager misbehaving. But he never gave me a ticket.

[madboy]

I vote for the CBTA course as mentioned above, the regular test sounds like a load of bollocks. It's unfortunate that the NZ attitude is that driving/riding is a right, not a privilege, and are unwilling to pay real money for the privilege of obtaining not only a licence but also the skills that should go with that responsibility. I say this with the utmost hypocrisy as I've driven through every disqualification I've ever had - over 2 years in total.

Gotta be honest here, I only got a bike licence cos the guy I was buying my bike off (he had known me for a good ten years) insisted I had some clue about how to ride - even though it was a 400... and then I only did the CBTA cos I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some decent rider training cos I like being good at things I do. I wouldn't say I'm good, but I'd like to think I've got at least half an idea about how not to kill myself.

Now try telling a 15yo he's up for a couple hundy to get his licence?

[Wolf]

Congrats Aaron and SuperDave on your licences.

At least when I got my restricted I was followed by a cop on a bike - and had to stop in a narrow street and do all the handling skills stuff (figure-8 etc) because this was back when all you needed for your learners was to pass written and oral tests (it was difficult, too, we actually had to use a pen to mark what we thought was the right answer, none of this scratch 'n' win stuff :p)

[v.ros`]

mate... if u think that was a waste of time...
I just completed my defensive driving ./ riding course to shorten my time period from restrcited to full from 18months to 12 months...

paid 120 NZ and 10 hours and I WAS the only one doing the defensive for a motorbike... he didnt even mentioned ONCE, i repeat not even once, anything bout motorbikes..i mean this is soo stoopid considering i paid 120NZ and didnt learn any shit regarding motorbikes. And to top it all off, the fool was talking bout ways to grow WEED in the last class...

seriously, this people are just trying to make money.

Hopefully i pass my full in april now :D

[Dr Bob]

Didn't have any of this new fangled graduation thing. I fronted up and answered 5 oral questions about a motorbike, jumped on my commuter bike while the testing officer was on a scooter - lost her in the traffic. She saw me do the hill start and nothing else. She takes my licence off me on the side of the road (the old booklet type) reaches into her pocket and pulls out a rubber stamp and hey presto - bike licence.

.... those were the days.

[Wolf]

Back when my great-uncle Owen got his licence must've been fun - his first bike was a 1340cc H-D, no helmet, gravel roads. And my uncle Ray once got snarked at by a cop for wearing a helmet - cop thought he was a bit of a boy racer.

Those would've been the days - OK, there were also less people on the roads so they didn't need half the restrictions back then that we have now. Would be great having less traffic again.

[Lou Girardin]

You don't even have to have experience in traffic enforcement, driver training or anything to do with driving/riding to become a testing officer these days.
You just have to pass a very basic course that deals with the administration of the test.
It was an LTNZ initiative to remove any subjective judgment from the test procedure, but we all know that driving well is a very subjective issue.
The success of these new tests is shown by the highly skilled and safe drivers that we encounter everyday.

[MikeL]

You can seriously question whether the $80 fee is justified. In the old days there was no suggestion that the fee should do any more than cover the cost. Now the agency which has the contract is a profit-making organization but where is the competition to keep the price down??
And of course if I had the licence testing contract, I would find it necessary to fail everyone at least once...

[Jonty]

While on the topic, I managed to get mine on Saturday. I was as hungover as ever (smelt like a brewery), speed through road works at 50km instead of 30 km (damn sunlight), forgot to check my blind spot during a lane merge and the guy still gave me the big OK.

Alright so I did ride well and most casues of concern were minor but yeah one more to go!!! :banana:

[Aaron]

While on the topic, I managed to get mine on Saturday.
Excellent, good on ya :D

[Dutchee]

Ah, the joys of the licence thing.

I got mine about 20 years ago (just under) and rode to the cop shop on my nifty fifty. I didn't quite hear what the cop told me to do, so rode till I got bored with Greys Ave (not long) and turned around (the cop had gone back inside, uninterested in actually seeing if I'd fall off). I then walked into the cop shop & got my stamp or licence or whatever it was back then. I also told them it was bullshit that I got a full motorbike licence riding an auto scooter & couldn't even ride a real bike. They insisted that the moped class was for something else & I had to accept my full licence.

The cage licence was another matter (10 years later) as originally on the plastic "lifetime licences" (remember those?) it gave an expiry date of a year. They managed to get me to pay twice (I refused to go to Grafton to go for my cage licence, it wasn't convenient) as the expiry date was a mistake on their part.

The good thing now is I don't have to go through the bullshit friends are going through as I'm totally legal (even though I'm only learning).

I just know I'd fail the basic handling course ;)

Good on ya guys & congrats :)

[Lou Girardin]

You can seriously question whether the $80 fee is justified. In the old days there was no suggestion that the fee should do any more than cover the cost. Now the agency which has the contract is a profit-making organization but where is the competition to keep the price down??
And of course if I had the licence testing contract, I would find it necessary to fail everyone at least once...

The converse happened in practice while the AA had the contract. They were so concerned about the negative public reaction over the whole photo licence debacle that they were applying subtle and not so subtle pressure to raise the pass rates. Towards the end of their tenure they even proposed that Testing Officers should conduct tests in cars without WOF's.

[Wolf]

The converse happened in practice while the AA had the contract. They were so concerned about the negative public reaction over the whole photo licence debacle that they were applying subtle and not so subtle pressure to raise the pass rates. Towards the end of their tenure they even proposed that Testing Officers should conduct tests in cars without WOF's.
Well, now we know why there are so many fuckwits out there that don't appear to have earned their licences! Here was me blaming Sanitarium when it was AA's fault...