The streets of Wagga have been filled with learner drivers in recent weeks as school students make the most of their summer holidays by getting their driving hours in.
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Adam Drosd from Wagga Drive Safe said he was "flat out" with bookings for driving lessons at the moment, following on from a busy post-lockdown period.
Mr Drosd said his business was only shut down for a period of about three weeks last year before resuming lessons as normal.
"From that point I've been busy every week," he said.
"It's like a revolving door, you get rid of one lot of students and you get the next lot coming straight in."
Despite concerns in June that a backlog of cancelled tests would make it hard for students to book over a long period, Mr Drosd said things were already back to normal.
"I don't think it really affected us ... they seemed to get rid of the backlog quite quick," he said.
A Service NSW spokesperson said since COVID restrictions were lifted on July 1, about 1,682 driving tests had been conducted in Wagga and nearly 4000 across Wagga, Tumut, Narrandera, Griffith, Hay and Leeton.
The Wagga statistics from July to December 2020 show an increase of 437 tests on last year, with 50 additional driver testers hired across the state to clear the coronavirus-related backlog.
The current wait time for a test in Wagga is 13 days, with P1 and P2 plate holders now able to progress to the next stage online.
Among those learning to drive in Wagga is Tiffany Chow, who has been on her L plates for about six months.
She said she was looking forward to the independence that comes with having a driver's license even with tasks like grocery shopping.
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"I have to rely on somebody to drive me now," she said.
"If I could drive, I can go anywhere."
Ms Chow said she had been able to avoid any disruption to her lessons from coronavirus.
A student of Mr Drosd, she said she appreciated his patience which had helped her improve through recent months.
"I was pretty bad at first ... I didn't really know how to deal with this whole driving thing," she said.
"Patience is key for anyone to learn something new."
While there are so many learner drivers on the road, Mr Drosd said it was important for Wagga drivers to remember to back off when they see the L plate on a car, and be patient with those clearly still learning to drive.
