The Road Safety Unit, within the Ministry of Transport and Mining, is reminding the public of the steps required to obtain a Jamaican Driver’s Licence.

As more persons seek to become driver’s licence holders, applicants are required to sit the Road Code Test before acquiring a Provisional Driver’s Licence. The Road Code Test is a multiple choice test, comprising of 20 questions, designed to evaluate a person’s knowledge of the general rules of the road, including road signs, road markings and road safety knowledge.

Upon passing the Road Code Test, applicants will proceed to the Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) to pay a fee of $1,800 and will be issued with the provisional driver’s licence. Under no circumstances should anyone pay any fees at the Examination Depots or to anyone purporting to have contacts to get the Provisional Driver’s Licence.

This Provisional Driver’s Licence lasts for 1 year, during which individuals are required to begin driving lessons. After completion of driving lessons, individuals must pay the requisite fee for sitting the driver’s licence examination. Subsequent to this, all official documentation must be submitted for processing to the Island Traffic Authority, including the valid provisional driver’s licence, the applicant’s birth certificate, 3 passport size photographs signed and stamped by a Justice of the Peace, and the completed driver’s licence application form. Applications for general driver’s licences require a medical examination, while applications for private driver’s licences do not.

Applicants will further be given a date to sit the Driver’s Licence Examination which has three components: a written test, a yard test and a road test. If unsuccessful in any component, the individual will have the option to re-sit the component that they failed after paying the requisite fees at the Tax Administration of Jamaica Offices.

However, if an applicant is successful in passing all three components, a Certificate of Competence will be generated, giving the TAJ the legal right to execute the delegated function of issuing the Driver’s Licence on behalf of the Island Traffic Authority.