Question: Regarding the road tests, part of the problem is that you can’t even take the road test if your car isn’t in perfect condition. This is a challenge for people who don’t have new cars. The pre-test inspection is too strict.
Answer: Although city officials disagree that a car has to be in perfect condition to pass the vehicle inspection required before a road test, they do acknowledge that past inspections have been very strict and that some roadworthy, older vehicles have failed, preventing applicants from taking the road test and getting a driver’s license that day. This contributed to Oahu’s road-test backlog because the applicant had to make another appointment and the last-minute cancellation left a gap in that day’s tests.
The city has revised road-test procedures to resolve these problems, said Harold Nedd, a spokesperson for Honolulu County’s Department of Customer Services. Here are highlights of the changes, which took effect March 16, he said:
>> “Driver licensing centers in the City and County of Honolulu are revising the pre-test vehicle inspection for a road test to more closely align with the standards for an annual vehicle safety inspection. This should result in an increase in the number of vehicles that are accepted to take the road test on Oahu. In other words, vehicles that pass the state’s safety inspection should be accepted for the road test. Two key exceptions are the warning lights for the air bag system (SRS) and a potential problem with the anti-lock braking system (ABS). For the safety of road test applicants and examiners, vehicles with those two defects would not be accepted for the road test, but would pass an annual safety inspection.”
>> “Although our road test examiners disagree that a car has to be in ‘perfect’ condition as your reader stated, they do recognize the inherent equity issue — older cars are more likely to have the kind of minor problems that (previously) would disqualify them from use in the road test, but don’t actually make them unsafe to drive, or unsafe for the road-test examiner to ride in.”
>> “The vehicle must still pass a basic safety inspection and be clean and safe for our road-test examiners.”
>> “Driver licensing centers are constantly reviewing their procedures, and will update the road test brochure and website to reflect recent adjustments to operations designed to make the pre-check inspection for the road test more equitable.”
>> Also, standby service for road tests has been restored to fill scheduling gaps caused by people who don’t show up for their road test or whose vehicles still don’t pass the pre-test inspection.
For more information and to schedule a road test, go to 808ne.ws/rtapp.
Q: When will the state Bureau of Conveyances research room will be fully opened to the public? This room is an archive of all the land documents from the Mahele to 1976, and these documents are not available online. During the pandemic access was restricted to a single researcher for one hour once a week. I and others who need the necessary time to physically examine and collect these older documents have been patiently waiting for full, open access.
A: That will happen Monday, following expiration of the governor’s current COVID-19 emergency proclamation, said AJ McWhorter, a spokesperson for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, of which the Bureau of Conveyances is a division.
“The DLNR Bureau of Conveyances will be in compliance with the termination of the governor’s executive order (effective Friday at 11:59 p.m.) and the BOC will be open to the public without the need for an appointment or time slot restrictions starting Monday, March 28. This applies for both the Public Reference Room and the Recording Office,” he said.
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
