Teenagers can’t sit driving tests due to vaccine mandate

A reader writes in:

Just yesterday we discovered that when the traffic light situation comes into effect, young people won’t be able to sit their drivers license unless they have received both vaccinations. This means, for instance, an unvaccinated 15 year old will not be allowed to sit their Restricted driving test.

There will be many young people caught in this, who are still making their way through the vaccination programme. Already wait times to secure a test are up to three months, and rebooking will delay a lot of young people’s ability to progress through their licensing journey.

There are hundreds of teenagers booked to sit their tests over the coming weeks who won’t be able to do so. We spoke with Waka Kotahi yesterday, who hadn’t appeared to have thought this through yet.

Not sure if it’s of interest to you – but shows the issue with pushing legislation through with zero consultation…!

Maybe passing the laws under urgency within 48 hours, without consultation, was a rather bad idea.