New age limit for licences

By Philip English

Young people will not get a full driver's licence until they are 18 under changes proposed to combat youth inexperience on the roads.

The Land Transport Safety Authority hopes the Minister of Transport will introduce the changes in May, about the same time as it begins issuing new card-sized licences with drivers' photos on them.

At present young people can start driving at 15 and get a licence at 16 providing they pass the tests and finish minimum supervised learner and unsupervised restricted driving periods.

Under the proposals a 15-year-old will still be able to get behind the wheel of a car but will face an 18-month learner and restricted-driver phase, with a final test including innovative hazards perception and management skills.

The authority's general manager of policy, Alan Woodside, said yesterday that the minimum driving age in New Zealand would still be among the youngest in the world but the new regime would target inexperience.

"We think by ... allowing them to gain experience but in a relatively safe way ... that is the best option for us."

Mr Woodside said it would be possible for drivers to complete both the learner and restricted phases by age 161/2 if they went through as quickly as possible.

"But what we are arguing is that that is still too young to have a full licence on the road, so we are proposing they stay in the restricted phase until they are 18.

"The current graduated licensing system in New Zealand is delivering benefits to young drivers. There is about an 8 per cent reduction in crash rates for those drivers.

"We think we can improve that even more by keeping them in that kind of controlled, restricted environment for as long as possible."

The authority will also impose time limits on the learner and restricted-driver periods to prevent people staying in a particular phase indefinitely rather than graduating to the next.

Mr Woodside said employment should not be affected by the proposals because the same limits as at present would apply: not driving unsupervised after 10 pm, not driving with other unlicensed drivers and meeting alcohol restrictions.