As persons are making their new year resolutions, no doubt there are many who will have at the top of their list, the desire to obtain a legal permit to drive.
Hence, the Island Traffic Authority is reminding the public of the steps required to obtain a Jamaican Driver’s Licence.
PROVISIONAL DRIVER’S LICENCE
Applicants are required to sit the Road Code Test before acquiring a Provisional Driver’s Licence. The Road Code Test is a multiple choice test, comprising of 15 questions, designed to evaluate a person’s knowledge of the general rules of the road, including road signs, road markings, and road safety knowledge.
The Road Code Test is free of charge and is currently administered by paper but will soon be digitized as the Island Traffic Authority takes on its digital transformation. The test can be taken at any Island Traffic Authority Examination Depot across the island. In addition to the Road Code Test, applicants must submit a medical certificate, a proof of residence, proof of age and 3 identical, certified passport-sized photographs
Upon passing the Road Code Test, applicants will proceed to the Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) to pay a fee of $1,800 and will be issued with the provisional driver’s licence. Under no circumstances should anyone pay any fees at the Examination Depots or to anyone purporting to have contacts to get the Provisional Driver’s Licence.
This Provisional Driver’s Licence lasts for 1 year, during which individuals are required to begin driving lessons.
Under the Road Traffic Act, 2018 and its attendant regulations, applicants who receive the provisional driver’s licence after February 1, 2023, must wait 6 months before applying for a driver’s licence.
DRIVER’S LICENCE EXAMINATION
After completion of driving lessons, individuals must pay the requisite fee for sitting the driver’s licence examination. Subsequent to this, all official documentation must be submitted for processing to the Island Traffic Authority, including the valid provisional driver’s licence, the applicant’s birth certificate, three passport-sized photographs signed and stamped by a Justice of the Peace, and the completed driver’s licence application form.
Applicants will further be given a date to sit the Driver’s Licence Examination which has three components: a written test, a yard test, and a road test. If unsuccessful in any component, the individual will have the option to re-sit the component that they failed after paying the requisite fees at the Tax Administration of Jamaica Offices.
However, if an applicant is successful in passing all three components, a Certificate of Competence will be generated, giving the TAJ the legal right to execute the delegated function of issuing the Driver’s Licence on behalf of the Island Traffic Authority.
Driver’s licences are now grouped into three classes:
- Class A – Motor Cycle
- Class B – Private Purposes
- Class C – Vehicles for Hire and Reward (Commercial and PPV)
Check our youtube channel and facebook page for very useful information – www.facebook.com/roadsafetyunit. Our e:mail is [email protected]
