NC DMV: Teens can now take a private road test. Is it worth the extra cost?
Teens seeking a provisional license in North Carolina can now take the required road test from a private instructor rather than at a Division of Motor Vehicles office.
The new option doesn’t mean teens and their families will get out of visiting the DMV. Teens who have had a learner’s permit for nine months still must go to a DMV driver’s license office to get a limited provisional license.
But under a change in state law, they now have the option of taking the road test from a certified private driving school. So far, 17 schools across the state have been approved by the DMV to offer the test. A list can be found on the DMV website.
Each school will set its price for the test. Published fees so far range from $60 to $125. That’s on top of the $22.50 that the DMV will collect for the limited provisional license.
The advantage of private road tests to teens and their families is a shorter visit to the DMV and potentially more flexibility in when they take the test. Some schools may offer them evenings and weekends when DMV offices are closed.
The DMV and its other customers could also benefit. Road tests can tie up a driver’s license examiner for 15 to 20 minutes, so each test completed by a private instructor will free up a DMV employee to serve someone else, says Paul Tine, the DMV commissioner.
“By outsourcing some road tests to certified private driver education schools, we’re providing more options for teens and their families while increasing efficiency at our driver license offices,” Tine said in a written statement. “This allows our driver license examiners to focus on in-office services, streamlining the process for everyone.”
The General Assembly directed the DMV to use “third-party vendors” to administer the road tests for teens in 2021. Four years later, the agency has in place the rules and process for training and certifying private instructors. The 17 available so far cover much of the state but not all of it, and the DMV expects more will come on line in the future.
