Whangārei’s new court tackles unlicensed driving among young adults

The court will aim to get young people licenced to reduce reoffending. Photo / 123RF

As numerous individuals enter prison with prior driving-related offences, a new court is poised to break the cycle by guiding unlicensed drivers away from the justice system and towards a more promising future.

In a first of its kind, the young adult drivers court is set to start in Whangārei next week and aims to tackle the cohort of unlicensed offenders between the ages of 18 and 25.

The specialist court is part of the Te Ao Mārama initiative being rolled out to ensure the justice system adopts a more inclusive and equitable approach and looks at driving factors behind offending.

Porirua led the way in establishing a Young Adult List, driven by the efforts of former Principal Youth Court Judge John Walker.

Now, at the request of Executive Judge for Te Tai Tokerau Judge Greg Davis, Northland is set to pilot its own version of the initiative.

“A lot of our young fellas, and predominantly boys, have an entree into the court system with driving type offences; driving while forbidden, driving while suspended, driving without a licence and what we know with brain science is young people’s brains are not fully wired,” Judge Davis said.

“So, when someone asks a young person ‘What were you thinking?’ the reality is, he probably wasn’t.”

The list will cater to individuals aged 18 to 25 and often deals with those graduating from the Youth Court and acknowledges barriers in social growth such as autism, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), acquired brain injuries, dyslexia, and trauma.

“The neuro-diverse issues of the youth court don’t vanish because he’s turned 18,” Judge Davis said.

Judge Davis said it was clear to the judiciary there was a gap between a direction being issued from the court and a young person following through.

“We see a procession of young people coming with driving-related offences but somewhere between leaving the court and coming back, they don’t seem to make it to the Howard League for some reason.

“We want to address the stepping-off point and how can we plug some of those gaps.”

The Howard League offers services in driver licence training and will be present in the young adult court to directly link with offenders, book appointments and get them on the road to licensing.

“We will speak to the young person when we are there and make appointments on the spot but quite often there are more steps like gathering ID which we also help with,” General Manager for Operations of Howard League Amy Gillard said.

“We don’t means test, so they don’t have to be involved with MSD. We are there to help these people no matter where they are. We pay for everything, the licence, the training, the vehicles. We take away every barrier we possibly can,” Gillard said.

"Are we doing justice when the system treats them almost as a sideline accessory?" Judge Davis questioned about driver licence offending. Photo / Mike Cunningham

Judge Gene Tomlinson said he has had offenders as old as 50 coming through on their 20th disqualification and the joy when they finally get their licence is an uplifting moment.

“When a person finally gets their licence, they hold it up and they’re stoked. They’ve had to work to get it and they’re less likely to re-offend because they understand the value of what they had to do to get it.

“As a Judge, they are some of the most uplifting moments,” Judge Tomlinson said.

To be referred to the Young Adult Drivers Court by police, a lawyer, or a registrar, individuals must meet three criteria: they must be between the ages of 18 and 25, the offence must be related to driver licensing, and there must be no identifiable victims involved.

“We are the first place in the country that this is being rolled out, if it all works well then should look to expand it.

“We’re very much the guinea pigs and the Howard League working together so I’m pretty sure, all eyes will be on us,” Judge Davis said.

The first court is scheduled for Wednesday before Judge Tomlinson at 10 am.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.