I am increasingly being asked for photo ID through my driver’s licence in commercial and legal transactions.
That’s for a septuagenarian who has held a licence for over 60 years.
A clean, at least restricted driver licence, is essential for many employment opportunities.
It indicates a commitment to the process of obtaining one, and also is necessary as photo ID.
On the other side of the coin, being caught driving without a licence, or driving while disqualified, with the subsequent non-payment of fines, and continual offences, is well recognised as the start of the spiral for many young people, into the criminal justice system.
In the past few years though, we have seen the driver licence process tighten up, but also be made available in schools, job training organisations, and certain employers who have taken some responsibility, for getting their previously illegal driving staff, to be legally on the road.
For many years the roadblock for remote areas and disadvantaged communities, has been the testing regime, whereby remote applicants have needed to be driven, in a legal car, to central places like Whangārei where they are tested for their restricted and full licences.
In the past year, we have seen the establishment of fully trained community testing officers in smaller centres, who have had available a mobile testing unit, so that applicants are able to be tested in their home environment, for their driving capability.
As well we have seen the likes of the Howard League, make a big commitment to training unlicensed people who are already in the justice system, so they can be legal on the road once they become legal in the community.
Now the Government wants to further refine the restricted driver process to make it easier and cheaper to obtain a full driver licence.
The principal proposal is to remove the full licensed practical test from the process so that prospective drivers only have a full practical driving test including a hazard perception test, at the restricted driver stage.
The expectation is that the rules about driving with a restricted licence remain, and that if, an under 25-year-old restricted driver has a clean driving licence for the next 18 months, then the full licence should arrive in the mail. This would remove the need for, and the cost of, that final full licence test.
There is a trade-off for this though. The proposal suggests that, as well as having a zero tolerant clean driving record in the restricted stage, there is also a zero alcohol limit for all learner and restricted driver licence holders, no matter what age.
As well, it is proposed to halve the demerit point threshold for learner and restricted drivers. This means that accumulating 50 demerits in two years, as opposed to 100 demerits in two years, will automatically suspend your licence for three months, and start the restricted driver licence process again.
The proposals have significant merit and say to the restricted driver that this is an easier and cheaper way to your full licence but, if you break the driving laws, become a recidivist demerit point accumulator, or if you drink and drive while on your restricted licence, you are back to square one. So, behave!!
It’s the area of the demerit points that is relatively less understood. Demerit points along with fines, are part of the penalty system for driving offences.
They vary with the severity of the offence. Accumulate 100 demerits in two years and your licence is suspended for three months.
This means that once NZTA advises the police that you are over 100 demerits, that they turn up on your doorstep and take your licence from you.
This might happen a significant time after the last offence, and often comes completely out of the blue. You then go through a frustrating process to get your licence back, once your suspension has expired.
Research shows that the percentage of licences cancelled or suspended decreases significantly after the age of 23.
This is consistent with other research, indicating that the risk of crash involvement also decreases after that age.
As well, most people learn their lesson with a first demerit offence and don’t reoffend. It’s the recidivist offenders with multiple high-level offences, who are the real villains on the road.
The pressure will really be on newly minted restricted driver licence holders. Respect the fact that you have had one less test and with less cost, but now you must behave, with safe driving and no alcohol, and if you do accumulate demerits, then you could be back to square one.
