The Transport Safety Minister today said penalties for young drivers are not strong enough to stop irresponsible behaviour on the roads.

The comments follow a crash in the Waikato which killed two people and injured four others, when a 15-year-old failed to stop at a stop sign.

It is the second serious crash in the past five weeks involving an inexperienced learner driver.

Harry Duynhoven said there's a need to get tough on young drivers.

He said there's a "she'll be right" attitude and the disincentive to break the law is not adequate.

Harry Duynhoven said parents need to take some responsibility by not providing youngsters with powerful cars and by not helping them pay fines when they break the law.

- NEWSTALK ZB