You have to start somewhere. if you are thinking of a career on the road, driving big rigs, large commercial vehicles or other similar industry vehicles, you need to start where everybody else starts – with a basic license.
When you are in pursuit of a driver’s license in New South Wales, you need first to obtain a learner’s license. Unlike a driver’s license, your learner’s license comes with extra restrictions, since they are designed for new drivers who are learning to operate a motor vehicle safely.
A fully-licensed adult Australian driver must accompany each learner while driving any car. The accompanying driver must have had their unrestricted license for at least four years, and they need to be older than 21. But first, the student driver needs to qualify for the learner’s license.
Minimum Requirement for Learner’s License
The minimum age requirement for obtaining a learner’s license is 16 years old. You must be able to pass an eyesight exam, too.
The examiner at the NSW service centre will measure the acuity of your eyesight using the Snellen scale. You will need to score a minimum of 0.5 to pass the eyesight exam. Anyone who requires contact lenses or eyeglasses is allowed to wear them during the exam.
Finally, to qualify for a learner’s license, you will be given test about road safety to ensure you have basic knowledge about the rules of the road. If you can pass this test, you will be issued your learner’s license.
Graduated Licensing Scheme
The Graduated Licensing Scheme is a list of stages a learner must go through before obtaining a full driver’s license. The stages include the learner’s license stage, the P1 provisional license stage, the P2 provisional license stage and the full license stage.
The P1 and P2 provisional licenses have restrictions on the number of passengers and the types of vehicles legally allowed. Provisionally-licensed drivers do not need a fully-licensed driver to accompany them.
Graduating to a P1 License
The first stage begins after you obtain your learner’s license. During this stage, you will need to complete a minimum of 75 hours of supervised driving. Fifteen of these hours must be completed at night.
Before you can apply for the P1 provisional license, you need to be at least 17 years of age, and you must pass a hazard perception test and a driving test. If you can pass both tests, you will get your P1 provisional license.
Provisional P2 License
The P1 provisional license must be held for at least 12 months. By this point, you should have reached your 18th birthday if you weren’t already older. Once you qualify for the P2 provisional license, you will also have to pass another driving test.
Earning Your Unrestricted License
Once you’ve held your provisional P2 license for a minimum of 24 months and are at least 20 years old, you can finally apply for your full unrestricted driver’s license. Once again, you will need to take an eyesight test and driving test to advance to the final stage.
Image via Pixabay CC0 LIcense