Driving tests are resuming as part of Phase 3 of the road map for coming out of COVID-19 restrictions.
(Source: Public Domain Pictures)The Road Safety Authority says the content of the driving test is staying the same but people doing it will face some changes, in order to comply with public health guidelines.
The driver testing service is resuming gradually under Phase 3 of the road map for easing COVID-19 restrictions, with test centres in Galway, Sligo, Ennis and Dundalk among those that have reopened.
The plan is for all of the country's driving test centres to be up and running again in the next few weeks.
New measures
As part of 'Tell Me Why', The Lift chatted to Declan Naughton, who is the Director of Driver Testing and Licensing Directorate in the RSA, and he explained more about driving tests in a COVID world:
"In terms of the content of the test, manoeuvres and all of that, the test will be exactly the same. However from a COVID perspective, there'll be quite a few changes. The driver tester and the customer will be wearing masks. We'll hand the mask to anybody who doesn't have one with them. I acknowledge there might be circumstances where somebody cannot wear a mask for medical reasons and they should talk to us in advance so we can make other arrangements. As well as that our driver testers will be carrying hand sanitiser and wipes.
"There won't be a screen or Perspex down the middle of the car because occasionally the tester has to intervene in a test for the safety of road users."
The RSA website includes more details and answers to Frequently Asked Question, and Declan says anyone who needs to do their driving test can have a look at the site to get answers to their queries.
You can also listen back to Declan's conversation with Dave and Fionnuala on The Lift here:
