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Anon
By AA | Moderator | 844 Posts | 13 May 2011 at 9:24am

Hi Jack,

With a Full-licenced passenger as supervisor in the car, can a driver with only a restricted licence, carry other passenger(s), both licenced and non-licenced?

Thanks.

Regards,
Seng.

jbiddle
By jbiddle | Community Member | 1657 Posts | 19 May 2011 at 2:03pm

Listed below are the conditions for a restricted car licence taken from the NZTA website.

Note the last bullet point

• You must always have your restricted licence with you when you're driving.
• You can drive on your own, but not between 10pm and 5am. Between these times you must have a supervisor in the front passenger seat who holds a full New Zealand car licence, and has held it for at least two years.
• If you sat the test in an automatic vehicle, your licence will say that you can only drive automatic vehicles.
• You must not carry passengers unless you have a supervisor with you.

cucumber18
By cucumber18 | AA Member | 1 Post | 9 June 2011 at 7:39pm

What happens if you have a partner, and they are the father of your child. Can an exemption be made? we can't afford to get my partners restricted licence as we are short on money right now, what can we do?

markstockdale
By markstockdale | AA Expert | 101 Posts | 10 June 2011 at 8:39am

If you hold a Restricted car licence, you can carry certain passengers without having to obtain an exemption:
• Your spouse (a person you live with in the nature of marriage)
• Children who live with you and who are under you or your spouse’s care (i.e. you or your spouse support them financially)
• Relatives who live with you and who receive a social security benefit
• Someone you look after as their primary caregiver

If you have been living with your partner as your de facto spouse for two years, then this would appear to apply. If you are unsure, I would suggest that you contact the NZ Transport Agency to determine if you are automatically exempt.

If you breach the conditions of your Restricted licence, you are not only liable for a $100 fine and 35 demerit points for each offence, but you also risk invalidating your insurance which means you won’t be covered for damage to your or any other property in the event of an accident. To be on the safe side, we recommend that you obtain your Full licence as soon as you can.