In my 13 years in my current role, programmes policies and practices have been developed to lift the standard of driving of young drivers, to increase the pass rates of those sitting their learner and restricted licences, save the heartacheof failure and the expense of incurring additional fees.
I have worked closely with driving instructors from St John and AA Driving Academies in Whangarei, and the Kaipara Driving Academy in Dargaville, in running special programmes with high success rates in these two districts.
For much of that time they were the only driving instructors operating in these districts. The commitment of those instructors, our service provider organisations, People Potential and Te Roroa Learning Assistance and the community as a whole is what is achieving our "high" pass rates.
The loss of testing facilities in some of the regional centres in Northland, together with the increase in difficulty of the new restricted licence regime, has resulted in an even greater commitment to provide assistance.
So in addition to the programmes which were already in place, we have also introduced three mentor driving programmes in Whangarei and Kaipara, the launch of the latest has ben reported in this paper.
Similar commitment and programmes are delivered by Kiri Sloane and her road safety team in the Far North District, based at Far North Reap.
So, I believe, the success in our region is as a result of huge commitment by a wide range of agencies, service providers and volunteers not as a result of a perceived "buttoning off" by our highly qualified and experienced testing officers.
