Editorial: Saving drivers' lives

OPINION: Despite clear evidence that younger drivers are over-represented in crash statistics, successive governments had for too long placed the controversial issue of the driving age in the too-hard basket.

Finally the present administration has decided to act by accepting the recommendation in the Safer Journeys discussion document to raise the age to 16. And, in another welcome move, the Government has announced that there will be a zero-alcohol limit for drivers under 20.

Some 15-year-olds will not be impressed with the decision to increase the driving age. It will delay by a year their access to a learner's licence, which has been a traditional rite of passage in this country, and their final graduation to a full licence.

And Federated Farmers has continued to complain that the new driving age would be a major inconvenience for rural families living in areas with little or no public transport.

But neither of these arguments provides valid cause for New Zealand to continue to have one of the lowest driving ages of any developed country.

As Prime Minister John Key has noted, New Zealand teenage drivers were involved in 60 per cent more serious accidents per capita than for the same age group in Australia, where the driving age in the various states is 16 or 17.

The rite of passage argument is a red herring, as the age of 15 used to correspond to the school leaving age, when former students could enter the workforce and needed greater mobility. But the leaving age has been raised and the driving age needed to follow suit.

For some rural families the rise in the driving age will be an inconvenience as it might force more parents to ferry children about, yet a study has shown that this inconvenience factor has been exaggerated. In rare cases, however, where there is no public transport and no parent able to drive, exceptions might be made.

Lowering the present teenage drink-drive limit to zero is also a sound move. It replaces the present uncertainty over how much, or how little, a younger driver can imbibe with the message that no alcohol whatsoever will be tolerated.

This move would also be in line with the likely increase in the age at which alcohol may be purchased, at least in bottle stores, to 20.

Another feature of the package is that novice drivers will be encouraged, by tightening up the restricted licence test, to do about 120 hours of supervised practice. At present most learner drivers have about 50 hours of supervised driving which overseas experience suggests is inadequate.

Some of those concerned with teenage driving safety would have wanted the reforms to have gone further, with an even higher driving age or a doubling of the learner licence period. Other options might be making it mandatory for restricted licence holders to have a minimum number of hours with a driving instructor or having vehicle power restrictions for young drivers, although this is being investigated by officials.

Some would regard such moves as too draconian. But if the already announced measures do not lead to a drop in serious accidents by young motorists, the extra steps should be seriously considered in the interest of making the roads safer for teenage drivers and saving lives.

- © Fairfax NZ News