By Staff Reports
(HONOLULU) – Driver licensing centers are tightening the rules on skipping appointments for the road test to get a Hawaiʻi driver’s license in the City and County of Honolulu.
Starting Sept. 1, no-shows for road tests will now be prevented from making another appointment for 60 days and continue to forfeit the $8 deposit they are required to pre-pay for the behind-the wheels exam.
The adjustment to the road test no-show rule will be the second attempt since May 2022 to reverse a trend with nearly 200 appointment slots going unused in any given week at driver licensing centers across O‘ahu.
This high no-show rate is also a key factor in how long many prospective drivers have to wait – an average of four months – before they can get an appointment to take the road test.
In May, driver licensing centers adopted new rules for road test no-shows, preventing these applicants from making another appointment for 14 days. After having little impact, the road test no-show rules are being adjusted to prevent applicants from making another appointment for 60 days.
“Because we continue to experience an average 15 percent no show rate, we are taking a stronger stance and stiffening the consequences for failing to show up for a road test appointment to provide better service to those who are keeping their appointments,” said Kim Hashiro, director of the city’s Department of Customer Services.
Road test applicants have until 6 a.m. on the day of the appointment to reschedule. To further help efforts to reduce the no-show rate, road test applicants will receive reminder emails and text messages seven days prior to the appointment, as well as the day before the behind-the wheels exam.
Road test applicants are expected to arrive at least 30 minutes before their scheduled appointments. If they are more than 5 minutes late, they would be considered a no-show and face the consequences of not complying with the rules.
Visit honoluluroadtest.org for more information about the road test.