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Foreigners who come to the Cayman Islands to live and work will be required to take at least a written driver’s test – and in some cases a road test – to obtain a driver’s licence, according to a redrafted Traffic Bill expected to come before the Legislative Assembly in a couple of weeks.
The change, if approved by lawmakers, won’t really affect tourists.
Under the proposal, any visitors or foreign residents who already hold a licence from their home country can drive in Cayman for up to six months, if those individuals come from a country that was a contract member of the convention on road traffic in Paris (1926), Geneva (1949) or Vienna (1968). Those conventions include most of the larger countries that make up the majority of the foreign population in Cayman, however, Jamaica does not appear on the most recent lists available for countries that have signed up to the Vienna convention.
The US, Australia and New Zealand also did not sign up to the 1968 Vienna convention, but they appear in earlier versions of the agreement.
After the six-month period has expired, the changes in the Traffic Law would require the driver to pass a written test. Drivers from the ‘convention countries’ would not have to take a road test to be issued a Cayman Islands drivers licence.
However, individuals who do not hold licences from a ‘convention country’ would be required to pass both a written and road test to get their Cayman Islands drivers licence.
The idea of testing foreign drivers is actually nothing new. It was proposed nearly five years ago by then-Works Minister Arden McLean who said at the time he believed residents of some foreign countries were bringing in bogus driver’s licences into Cayman and exchanging them for local licences.
The Cayman Islands currently allows people who are here on work permits up to three months before they must get a local driver’s licence. After that, those workers would have to take a driving test.
However, anyone seeking a Cayman Islands driver’s licence within their first three months here can simply walk into a licensing office, fill out a form, pay a varying sum of money and get a local licence.
Visitors Driving Permits may also be issued to drivers staying here for fewer than six months and are generally obtained by tourists and other short-term visitors.
The bill as proposed would allow a person with a Cayman licence that is about to expire or who has held a local licence within the past five years to renew without taking a driving test.
“For purposes of renewal, a licence issued under the repealed law is as good as a licence issued under this law,” the bill states.
The Traffic Bill expected to come before lawmakers later this month includes a number of other high-profile changes for Cayman’s roads, including outlawing hand-held cell phones while driving. Hands-free devices would still be allowed for use while driving and people could still use hand held phones to call 911, if the new legislation passes.
Electric cars will be allowed to be licensed on local roads for the first time under the legislation. Certain electric cars will be allowed for standard road use, while other vehicles may only be used on side roads, parking lots or in neighbourhoods.
Also, the bill seeks to licence and regulate driving instructors, which would be another first for Cayman.
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This is such a joke, and a waste of time, i know people who paid money for a drivers license, and if they are doing road tests, i think they need to re-test our taxi and bus drivers.
It’s about time! Please pass this bill.
more good news!
This is nothing more than another way the government has figured out to make more money off the expats, many who live in poverty on the island because of the low wages and high cost of living. Something is not right with this picture.
If this is all we have to do spending our time and money, then we really have nothing to do.
With all the issues we have to deal with, we are simply creating a make work project and ignoring the important issues.
Take the would be people who would be employed to man this project and put them into law enforcement or some other useful area.
Somebody is making it seem as if there is a serious problem here. Get a grip on reality.
On one side, I don’t understand many foreigners, who come here to live (and drive) and don’t bother buying (or borrowing) local driving book and reading it ONCE. Yes, we all know how to drive, but if you come to live there – it is your responsibility to spend JUST one hour ONCE, read it through and confirm that everything is according with your expectations – or maybe not.
People just come and drive – this is good for turists, but not for those who stay long.
On the other hand – foreign-testing proposal doesn’t make much sense. Yes, it will force foreigners to do the thing discussed above – read local rules once. But it is definitely not the easiest and not the best thing to do to quickly improve driving standards on the island. We all drive here – we see taxis and buses doing all kind of funky stuff on the road (guys driving taxis and buses – YOU ARE PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS! you are supposed to be role models for everybody else). Police cars – yes, I do see police cars doing things against driving rules and without siren on. (Police – you are those people who supposed to give tickets – you don’t have moral right to give tickets for something you do yourself).
Anyway, my thought is that more attention to the road (watching and ticketing, without any extremes, in just and reasonable way) will generate more revenue for the government, will target specifically those who ignore rules and will have immediate effect on situation on the roads.
Regarding hands-free – yes, it is an option, but I’ve seen research showing that talking using hands-free affects driver’s attention in almost the same way as talking without it. Researchers concluded that generally talking with somebody who is not in close proximity diverts much more attention then talking to somebody close, and it doesn’t matter if it is hands free or not. Though they didn’t explain why it is so.
whilst I agree it is going to be a waste of time, and resources, I wouldn’t say it isn’t an issue.
Bubba, I can only assume you have never been driving a car, and had a near miss with an idiot who has nearly killed you? If that is so, you are a lucky man.
I think it would be a pretty good idea for Jamaicans to take a test here – I have seen Jamaican ‘driving’, and it isn’t exactly textbook stuff.
Easy target I know, but again, what about the bus drivers on West Bay Speedway? They draft other vehicles, using some very effective slipstreaming, overtake with oncoming vehicles bearing down, and then pull over to pick someone up. Then repeat. Would someone please point out that driving a bus in a more sensible manner would probably use half the amount of fuel, and not cause quite so many lost days due to crashes and mechanical failures.
This is not a new concept. When I arrived 17 years ago we had to test, and I did not mind as Left hand versus RH drive and round abouts were new concepts to me. Safety first should not be up for debate. But I think it could be outsourced, or allowed to be, to private sector and not use goverment resources. Let private enterprise test and train and get the profit. As for cost to expats, no other country I can think of allows un-tested driving licenses, even in the USA you have to re-test every 4 years. Thank you for adding to road saftey (again) , now can we go back to some other ideals that were here 17 years ago please!