The line is long and the frustration is rising at the Chatham Drive Test Centre as hundreds try to get their driving privileges in order.
Drive Test Centre Chatham. June 23, 2020. (Photo by Paul Pedro)
Drive Test Centres reopened on Monday for G1 and M1 knowledge tests, driver’s licence exchanges, and commercial driver applications and upgrades. Commercial road tests are also available by appointment. This week customers with birth months between January and June are being served to reduce crowding and next week it will change to those who were born between July and December. The schedule will continue to alternate weekly until full services are restored.
Mikaela Harnock wants to get her G1 licence and said the process took her two days. She visited the centre on Monday but the lineup was around the building and she decided to go home. She returned early Tuesday morning to book a test and then had to wait six hours for the actual test.
Mikaela's mother Sherry thinks the process is not very well thought out and said bookings should have been done online ahead of time.
"I think it is a little bit ridiculous. It needs to be a bit better organized. Book times ahead of time instead of having people standing all day long in the heat or the rain just to be turned away. Kids yesterday got sent home because even though they were here six or seven hours they ran out of time and couldn't write their test," Sherry added.
Other frustrated clients agree, saying they had to return on Tuesday after waiting in line all day on Monday.
Driver examination services will be reintroduced in three phases until full services are restored this fall. Information will be updated from one phase to the next but no word yet if written exams could soon be booked online.
"The province and Drive Test will continue to work closely to find innovative ways to deliver more convenient and efficient services through technology and other means," said Ministry of Transportation Senior Issues Advisor Lee Alderson.
The public is being asked to be patient when visiting because the centre has new requirements for physical distancing, health checks, and enhanced sanitation.
All customers and guests are required to bring a face covering to wear inside the centre and during road tests, sanitize their hands when they enter the Drive Test Centre and undergo temperature checks before road tests. A health screening questionnaire prior to entry into the building is also mandatory.
The Ministry of Transportation has extended all driver and commercial licences and no one will lose their licence as a result of COVID-19.