Driving Test Car Requirements in QLD

• Your car must be roadworthy, with no known defects such as faulty Takata airbags. In February 2018, ACCC announced an Australia wide compulsory safety recall for some Takata branded airbag, due to extreme safety risk.

More than 3 million vehicles are affected. And if your car is one of them, you cannot take it for the test and you need to get its airbag replaced immediately for free. You can go to this website and check if your car is affected by the Takata Airbag Recall: https://www.fcai.com.au/is-my-airbag-safe

• You must have correctly displayed the required label on your vehicle.

You must have correctly displayed the required label on your vehicle if it is hybrid, electric, or hydrogen fuel cell-powered, or runs on liquid petroleum gas (LPG). For example, for a Toyota Corolla hybrid car, an EV label (electric vehicle) must be attached to its number plate, like the photo below:

• You must have obtained the registered operator's permission for the vehicle to be used in the test.

This is not a written permission. You can just take someone’s permission verbally. But when you go for the test, you need to circle yes for this question in the permission paper. The format of this paper changes from time to time but as of the date of writing this blog post, it looks like this:

• All four tyres of your car should be of the same type of tyre construction, not the same brand exactly.

So that’s either Radial Ply or Cross Ply. We don’t want to go into these details too much. This is something that your mechanic can check.

Also, spare tyres cannot be used for a driving test, as they are designed for emergency use only. 

• The tyres must have a tread depth of at least 1.5 mm.

Tyre experts recommend this to be at least 3 mm.

In order to check your tyre tread depth, simply grab an Australian 20 cents coin with a platypus on it. Then, place it in one of the grooves of your tyre. If the platypus bill is obscured, your tyre tread depth is more than 3 mm. So you’re good.

Just remember that tyres should be rotated every 10000 km. And then changed every 3 to 5 years or as advised by visiting your local tyre expert. 

• Tyres should be appropriately inflated and not punctured.
• Tyres must not be damaged in any way that may compromise safety. 
• Your left and right indicators or signals must be working.
• Your wipers and washers must be working.
• Your hazard light, headlight, and high beam must be working.
• The brake lights at the rear of the car must be working and visible from a 30-metre distance from the back of the car.
• A centrally-mounted park brake must be in proper working order when fitted in a test vehicle.

We got in touch with QLD Department of Transport and Main Roads to clarify on this, and they responded that a working handbrake, a foot parking brake, or an automatic brake hold is acceptable.

• Windscreens must have a suitable level of visibility. The examiner decides whether a windscreen damage or mark on it compromises safety. If your windscreen is affected by dirt or grease, the examiners might give you some time to clean it before they start the test.
• The car windows must be able to be opened and closed and they must have a safe level of visibility. Window tinting is okay as long as the visibility is not compromised in a way that may affect road safety.
• Doors must be able to be opened and closed from inside and outside and must be fitted with door handles.
• For situations where the test vehicle is fitted with driver assist devices (for example, GPS, Speed Alarms, Park Assist, Easy Start), the driver of the vehicle must ensure, where possible or requested, that these devices are switched off for the duration of the test.
• The car must have proper secure seats.
• The car must be fitted with seatbelts that are in good working condition.
• Your car must have a rear-view mirror and side mirrors.

• Your car is required to have an internal sun visor.

If your car doesn’t have one that’s okay, as long as it doesn’t compromise your ability to drive safely. In such cases, you can use glare-resistant sunglasses to overcome any safety risk.

• Your car must also have an anti-slip surface or rubber pad for both pedals and also clutch in manual cars.
• Test vehicles must be fitted with a functional speedometer and a functional steering wheel.
• It must be fitted with a warning device, which is a horn that can be operated quickly and effectively with one hand.
• If the car has a warning dashboard light that doesn’t go off shortly after the engine is started, the test will not proceed.

Warning lights are often red and sometimes flash. They warn that there is a possible safety issue or potential vehicle damage.

Now, let’s consider the inside of the car. It must be reasonably clean, that is:

• no rotting food, no animal excrement
• no excessive dirt or grease on seats or seatbelts
• free of potentially hazardous loose materials (food containers, paint tins, papers, etc.)

So just make sure that your car is clean. You don’t have to go that extreme and take your car to a carwash. But if you do, that’s great. Well, who doesn’t like a shiny clean car?

• In convertible cars, the roof must be closed and properly secured.
• If your car has been modified without approval, your test will not proceed.

Just two things to mention for your peace of mind:

1. Dents on the body of the car are okay.

2. Some minor faults may be able to be rectified within a short period of time.

If it takes a very short time to rectify the problem and the examiners have enough time before their next appointment, they might let you attend to the issue and proceed with the test.

And if there’s not enough time, the test will be cancelled. For example, changing the brake or indicator light globe, changing a tyre, adjusting the sound of a horn, and cleaning a dirty windscreen.

Now that you know about the driving test car requirements, make sure you have everything ready before your test. In case your car has some issues that cannot be rectified before your driving test, you can take advantage of driving test package, which is offered by almost every driving school throughout the country.

This package includes a car hire for your driving test, plus one hour driving lesson right before your test. All driving school cars are in prime condition and meet the transport department safety criteria. By using this package you have one less thing to worry about on the test day and all you got to think about is focusing on your test. 

Good luck with your driving test!