More driving practice positive but age decision fudged – youth union movement

The Government has shown sense in strengthening supervised driving time and education for young drivers, says the CTU’s youth union movement in response to today’s ‘Safer Journeys’ strategy. It is disappointing however that in raising the restricted licence age to 16 they have not retained the option of exempting 15 year olds when driving to work, education, sport or community activities.

“Better training for young drivers needed to be the priority for the Government,” said Stand Up convenor James Sleep. “The proposal of more hours of supervised driving is positive, and we look forward to hearing more detail about better and more accessible education, especially with regard to its affordability. Together with Federated Farmers and the Automobile Association we lobbied for an emphasis on young drivers’ skills and it seems that the Government has not been entirely deaf to our arguments.”

“Setting the new driving age at 16 seems like a fudge however. This compromise will hurt fewer people, but it will still disadvantage thousands of 15 year olds seeking to access jobs, education and training, or to take part in sport and community activities. It will still have a negative impact on rural communities throughout the country and in itself will do little to reduce the accident toll of young drivers.”

ENDS

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