Driver Licencing

The new year will bring changes to how drivers are re-examined to insure that they are safe to continue to drive. Current DriveABLE testing will be replaced by an Enhanced Road Assessment (ERA) that will be administered by ICBC at no cost. The ERA has been developed by RoadSafetyBC after surveying driver re-testing in other jurisdictions and is aimed at providing greater transparency for participants.

Once upon a time, there was a 33 year old guy in town, who decided he wanted to get a class 1 license. Since I have trucks, and my instructors certification, (albeit from...Alberta) he asked me if I would spend some time with him while he drove one of my trucks.

I ended up going out 4 times with him, 2 to 3 hours each time.

My spouse and I recently moved back to BC. He had a pending Driving Prohibition that had not been acknowledged since 2013. He was an N driver and was prohibited due to unsastisfactory driving record. 

At the end of July he went into ICBC after finding out while trying to switch his license over and acknowledged the suspension.

If someone is driving without a license and gets their friend's car impounded for 30 days, is there a way to get it out sooner? And is there any trouble for the owner of the vehicle (through their insurance or anything) for having someone drive the vehicle without a license and getting it impounded?

Here's an interesting item from the United Kingdom: Drivers may be ordered by the courts to retake their driving theory test and take an extended practical driving test to return to full licence status. This is may be part of the penalty for a dangerous driving conviction or conviction for any offence that carries a mandatory driving prohibition.

B.C.'s Graduated Licensing Program (GLP) was implemented to develop driving skills in a safe, step by step manner. Today, they are a widely accepted, effective safety measure. The system of restrictions that have been evaluated have been found to be very effective in reducing crashes and injuries, and public acceptance is high.

We are looking to hire a summer student for a summer delivery position with our company. The candidate has a valid learners Alberta license (equivalent to N driver). In February he had his license suspended for 4 months due to an accident to which he lost his N privileges.

It has often puzzled me that we undergo rigorous testing to get a driver’s license around the age of 16 or 17, and yet are not required to take a driving test again until some time in our 80s.  In some cases, that is 60 or more years of driving without re-testing.

Abdulrahman Al Farraj is a Saudi Arabian national attending school full time in British Columbia. He was checked by police and produced a Kingdom of Saudi Arabia driver's licence that contained a few words of English and the balance in Arabic. Cst. Hildred of the CRD IRSU unit issued a violation ticket to Mr. Al Farraj for failing to produce a driver's licence as he did not produce a translation that would allow determination of what Mr. Al Farraj was licenced for.

It’s very interesting that some new drivers to BC can easily obtain a driver license with no written test on BC traffic laws and no road test to demonstrate competency .

Road safety should not be based on political agreements.

While many of the 12 Countries that are exempt from testing, have lower vehicle Fatality rates, Some countries have triple the Canadian average fatality rates.