NC DMV resumes some driver’s license road tests, as fears of virus spread subsides
The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles is offering regular road tests for the first time in more than a year, but only for teenage drivers.
On Monday, the DMV began scheduling road test appointments for teens under 18 who are seeking a provisional license. The road test requirement will continue to be waived for most drivers over 18, provided they can show they’ve had adequate training and/or a good driving record.
The DMV stopped offering road tests in March 2020 to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among drivers and employees. The waiver that was put in place last summer will remain for now; a bill signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper last week allows DMV to waive the road test requirement until Sept. 30 or 30 days after Cooper lifts the coronavirus state of emergency, whichever comes first.
But the waiver doesn’t apply to 16- or 17-year-olds seeking a provisional license. Last fall, the DMV developed a “contactless” road test for those teens and for people who didn’t qualify for a waiver, including those who failed a previous road test or whose license was suspended when it expired.
Now the contactless tests are going away. The DMV determined that vaccination for COVID-19 has significantly reduced the risk of contracting the disease from an in-person road test, said agency spokesman Steve Abbott.
“Health safety conditions have improved, with the large number of N.C. residents who have had at least one or both shots,” Abbott wrote in an email. “We will still institute health precautions with masks and temperature checks.”
Abbott said the DMV opted to continue waiving road tests for most adults to help it catch up with the demand for tests among teens.
“We are aware of more than 5,000 that have appointments or who were waiting for spots to open,” he said.
The contactless tests, which involved the examiner watching the driver perform a series of maneuvers in large parking lots, were offered at only 28 driver’s license offices across the state.
The regular road tests are offered at all of the 102 full-service DMV driver’s license offices that are open (a handful of smaller DMV offices remain closed).
The DMV examiner rides in the teen driver’s vehicle out on public roads, just as they did before the pandemic. Drivers and examiners are required to wear masks during the test, and drivers will have their temperature checked before it starts.
To reduce crowding, DMV still requires that people make an appointment before coming to a driver’s license office. For more information or to make an appointment, go to www.ncdot.gov/dmv/.
