The Insurance Corp. of B.C. is contacting drivers whose road tests were cancelled in the COVID-19 pandemic, to begin catching up on as many as 80,000 drivers seeking personal vehicle driving privileges.
ICBC has resumed testing for Class 5 standard licences and Class 7 ’N’ licences for new drivers, starting with those whose appointments were cancelled between March 31 and April 30. They should be contacted by June 30, followed by appointments cancelled in May and then June.
Once appointments are made up, new customers can begin booking road tests starting Aug. 24. Road tests will be done in the customer’s vehicle, which must be cleaned inside and prepared to pass a vehicle safety checklist. ICBC says all drivers will be subject to health screening for COVID-19 symptoms, and medical-grade masks will be supplied for both driver and instructor.
Attorney General David Eby, minister responsible for ICBC, said the corporation normally does 20,000 road tests a month, including retests for people who have failed. That leaves a potential backlog of 80,000 road tests.
“ICBC is working on additional locations for driver’s licence testing, as well as hiring and training of new driver examiners to work through the backlog,” Eby told reporters at the B.C. legislature July 22. “For people who didn’t have appointments cancelled, they’ll be able to book appointments from Aug. 24 forward, and to work through the backlog, ICBC will be opening additional locations and they are right now training additional driving examiners.”
Commercial vehicle road tests were also suspended in March, but Eby said that backlog has been caught up for people training on limousine, bus and transport trucks including air brakes.
Information on ICBC services during the COVID-19 pandemic is available here.
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@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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