With about a three-month wait for a road test appointment being the norm, a standby road test is definitely an option. A standby road test is when you go to the ICBC licensing office without an appointment, and if someone doesn’t show up for their appointment, you can take their place.
ICBC seems to feel that a two or three month wait for a road test appointment is acceptable, but many license-seekers do not have the luxury of waiting this long. For a high school student, a driver’s license is not usually a necessity, but some people have a more urgent need for a license. Someone, especially a newcomer to BC, might have an opportunity for a job that requires a driver’s license, and they can’t just tell their prospective employer that they might have a license in three months.
At the Point Grey ICBC office, there is usually a good chance of going out on a standby road test. For example, I was in the office today (with a student who passed her Class 7 road test), and three clients had gone out on standby in the morning. At noon, there was one more person waiting to go out.
If you really want to go out on standby, the key is to get to the office early in the morning, and try to be first on the standby list. Some clients come as early as 6:00 am, or even earlier. Some days there may be several people waiting in front of the office, some days you can show up at 8:00 or later and there will be no one waiting. A couple of weeks ago, one of my students arrived at the office at 5:45 am – he really wanted to go out. When I arrived at the office just before 8:00 to meet him, he was the only person waiting, and he went out on a road test at 8:00.
Standby is definitely a gamble. You might pop into the office and go out right away; you might sit in the office all day and not go out. But the good thing is that the Point Grey office makes an effort to get standbys out, and if you are first or near the top of the list, you should go out.
I don’t usually assist students with standby road tests, as I have to book off the whole morning for them, and the cost for the student is a little prohibitive. But if you want your best shot at passing your Point Grey Class 7 of Class 5 road test, contact me, Perry of New Day Vancouver Driving School, the Point Grey road test expert. I can show you exactly what the examiner is looking for in a successful road test, and hopefully your standby experience will have a happy ending.