- Hi there Smart Drivers.
Rick with Smart Drive Test talking to you today.
What your road test will look like as the test centers begin
to open amid COVID-19, and some haven't opened yet because
of keeping workers safe and keeping driving examiners safe.
They haven't figured that out yet.
In other places it's business as usual.
However, I don't know how they're going
to deal with the sheer backlog of road tests,
in many states and provinces
it's tens of thousands of road tests.
(upbeat music)
Had a comment from Smart Driver
D Yorker down there at Atlanta, Georgia.
And he wanted me to comment on
what the modified road test looks like there in that state.
So there's potentially four ways
that you could see your road test,
how it looks and what you need to do to be able
to take your road test and to pass your road test.
So the first way is business as usual,
some counties in the state of Florida there,
are doing business as usual,
but you need to do screening
for the examiner to be in your car.
So they're going to ask you a series of questions.
Have you been sick?
Do you have a runny nose?
Have you been running a fever,
have you been out of the country?
Have you flown anywhere?
And they're going to take your temperature.
As well, you're going to have to disinfect
the passenger seat for the examiner to sit in your vehicle.
And you're going to have to wear a mask to take your road test.
Now the challenge with doing
the road test as usual is that most of the states,
and provinces here in Canada
have tens of thousands of road tests in a backlog.
They are going to take care of those tests first
if you were part of that backlog
and your road test was canceled
sort of between March and May.
But, there's no way that they're going to be able to deal
with that because in some states and provinces,
tens of thousands of road tests,
they just simply don't have enough personnel
to be able to do that.
The second way that they're doing it is like Georgia,
Georgia initially waived the road test for new drivers to
move from the learners phase into the novice phase.
Unfortunately, due to petitions and, and public outcry,
the governor of Georgia rescinded that offer.
And now new drivers have to take a road test
in a closed circuit area.
So it's a modified road test.
You have to bring a mentor with you because you're going to
be in the parking lot, driving,
doing slow speed maneuvers,
and the examiner will be outside of the vehicle.
And the reason that D Yorker wanted me to comment on this is
because a large portion of the road test is not being done.
They're not taking you out in traffic.
You're not going to demonstrate that you can deal with,
you know, other traffic,
deal with other drivers, and road users,
and work at complex intersections and those types of things.
So there is a limitation on it.
However, the good part of that test
is that you have to double down
on slow speed maneuvers,
and slow speed maneuvers demonstrate that you have
mastery of the primary controls and you know where your
vehicle is in space and place.
So it's a good test and it will demonstrate that you have
control of the vehicle.
And it has some minor limitations,
but it's not as bad as people might think initially.
(bell dinging)
The third way that they could potentially
do a road test is to have a chase vehicle
with the driver and the examiner sits in the chase vehicle.
And they simply follow you around
the same as they do in a motorcycle test.
The examiner communicates with you via a walkie talkie.
Again, you have to have a mentor with you in your vehicle,
so you can drive on the roads and do that.
Again, the limitation with this is that
they're simply not going to get through the backlog.
What I propose for states and provinces to be able to manage
and get through the backlog and start testing people again,
is to waive the road test, but to waive the road test.
and the new driver has some form of oversight.
And what I suggest is is that they bring
on the local driving schools.
The driver is moved into the novice phase,
but after three weeks has to go in for an evaluation
at the local driving school, cost 40 or 50 dollars.
It takes about 15 minutes.
The instructor takes you out, goes for a little drive,
and then again at, you know, say four or five months,
they do another one and then at a year,
and all of that oversight will be recorded
and submitted to the authorities,
and then you're good to go.
And then you'll have to take your final test
to get your full license.
So that is the only viable option
that I could see that these driving test centers
would be able to deal with the huge backlog
that they're now facing in order
to get people through and get their tests done.
Because, here in British Columbia, for example,
the test centers are still closed, and commercial drivers,
CDL drivers who were learning to drive truck and bus,
they've been waiting almost three months now and, you know,
it's tough for them because they went through,
they got their driving, you know,
they haven't had a lot of practice,
and now they've got to go in and do a road test
in a vehicle that they haven't been in for some time.
So I don't know any other way
that they're going to be able to do this.
And as well, people are simply not going to wait a year,
18 months or two years to get the road test.
So it's a viable option for the DMV centers to deal with
the backlog that they're now facing
of tens of thousands of road tests.
In the state of New York they are doing
commercial license tests,
but they're not doing passenger vehicle tests yet.
And we'll see what happens and how this unfolds.
And I would ask if you could help me out,
leave a comment down in the comment section there,
and tell me what's happening in your state
or province with the testing,
and I'll collate that and put that available
over on the Smart Drive Test website to help people out
and they can figure out and know what's going on
in their state, or province, or in their jurisdiction.
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