Fact Sheet 8 - Safer Road Users - Young drivers

The over-representation of young drivers in road crash fatality and injury statistics is an international issue with high social and economic costs (OECD 2006, p6).

For OECD countries (Australia is a member of OECD) traffic crashes are the single biggest killer of 15-24 year olds (OECD 2006, p13). Young drivers typically represent between 9 and 13% of the population, but between 18 and 30% of all killed drivers (OECD 2006, p13).

Queensland’s statistics relating to young adults (aged 17-24 years) are similar. During 2008 there were 85 young adult drivers and riders aged 17 to 24 involved in fatal crashes, representing 19.7% of all drivers and riders involved (where age was known) however young adult drivers and riders represented only 13.0% of licence holders as at 30 June 2008 (Data Analysis Unit 2009).

It is believed that lack of experience, risk-taking tendencies, driving at high-risk times and a number of potential distractions (e.g., peer passengers) all contribute to the elevated crash risk for young novice drivers (Australian Transport Council 2008, p46). However, of these factors, inexperience is believed to be the primary cause of the young novice driver problem (OECD 2006, p83).

It takes time and practice for drivers (younger and older) to gain competence in driving (OECD 2006, p83). Extensive supervised driving experience has therefore been viewed as the best way to help young drivers be better prepared for solo driving, with an extensive body of research showing that conventional skills-based driver training programs provide little benefit and often produce worse outcomes than if such training is not undertaken (Australian Transport Council 2008, p46).

In July 2007 Queensland introduced a requirement for learners under 25 years of age to gain a minimum 100 hours of certified, logbook-recorded supervised on-road driving experience, including 10 hours of night driving (Queensland Transport 2008, p18).

The RACQ had long held the view that there was a need for learner drivers to gain extensive practical experience before being eligible for a provisional licence. The introduction of the logbook and 100 hours requirement is seen as an important advocacy victory.

By counting each hour spent with a professional driver trainer as three hours in the their logbook (up to a maximum of 10 hours or 30 hours in the logbook), learners are encouraged to gain professional training. The Keys to Drive program will also encourage the uptake of professional lessons and foster a better relationship between supervisors of learner drivers (e.g., parents, carers and friends) and professional driver trainers.

The Club also believes that the other changes made to Queensland’s graduated driver licensing system in July 2007 also broadly assist in preparing learner drivers to drive solo and protecting them once they obtain provisional licences.

As well as being able to obtain a learner licence at 16 years of age and being required to hold their learner licence for at least 12 months and gain 100 hours of supervised, logbook-recorded experience (with 10 hours at night), learner licence holders in Queensland:

• Must display L plates on the front and rear of the vehicle that they are learning in;
  
  
• Must carry their learner licence with them at all times while learning to drive;
  
  
• Must be supervised by a driver who has held an open licence for at least one year for the class of vehicle the learner is driving;
  
  
• Must not use a mobile phone including hands-free functions or Bluetooth accessories;
  
  
• Must not drive while supervisors/passengers are using a loudspeaker function on a mobile phone;
  
  
• Must have a zero blood alcohol concentration (below 0.05 if 25 years or older); and
  
  
• Must pass a practical driving test to progress to a Provisional licence.

Under the two-stage provisional licence, Provisional 1 (P1) drivers:

• Must display red P plates on the front and rear of the vehicle they are driving;
  
  
• Must carry their P1 licence with them at all times while driving;
  
  
• Must not drive with more than one peer passenger aged under 21 (who is not an immediate family member) in the car between 11pm and 5am;
  
  
• Must not use a mobile phone including hands-free or Bluetooth accessories;
  
  
• Must not drive a high-powered vehicle (being any vehicle with 200kw or more, 8 or more cylinders, a petrol turbo or supercharged engine, or a rotary engine which is larger than 1146cc or a vehicle with a modification which required approval;
  
  
• Must have a zero blood alcohol concentration if under 25; and
  
  
• Must hold their P1 licence for a minimum of 12 months and must pass a Hazard Perception Test before progressing to a Provisional 2 licence.

Provisional 2 (P2) drivers:

• Must display green P plates on the front and rear of the vehicle they are driving;
  
  
• Must carry their P2 licence with them at all times while driving;
  
  
• Must not drive a high-powered vehicle;
  
  
• Must have a zero blood alcohol concentration (below 0.05 if 25 years or older); and
  
  
• Must hold their P2 licence for at least 2 years before progressing to an Open licence (1 year if 23 years old when gaining a P2 licence, not at all for drivers aged 24 or older).

All Queensland Learner, Provisional 1 and Provisional 2 drivers will have their licences suspended for three months or will be subject to a 12-months good driving behaviour (GDB) period if they accumulate four or more demerit points in a 12-month period.

A late night driving restriction (11pm-5am) can also be applied as a penalty for P1 or P2 drivers under 25 years old who lose their licence due to accumulation of demerit points, high-speed offences or are subject to a GDB period. This restriction also applies, on return to driving, to provisional or open licence drivers under 25 who commit offences that result in a court disqualification.

A large number of community initiatives aimed at educating young drivers have supplemented these changes to the graduated licensing system, for example, Behaviour, Risk, Attitude, Knowledge and Education (BRAKE) and the Attitudinal Driving Workshops.

Priorities: Driver licensing, training and education for young drivers

1. Ensure learner drivers gain extensive practical experience before being eligible for a provisional licence and that learner drivers have access to professional driver trainers to assist them in gaining skills and experience.
   
   
2. Increase public education about the benefits of extensive supervised experience prior to solo driving and limiting the amount of unsupervised driving young drivers are involved in under higher-risk conditions, e.g., late night, with peers, after drinking alcohol.
   
   
3. Encourage parents to help provide a structured approach to learning to drive to suitably prepare learner drivers before they obtain a provisional licence and drive unsupervised.
   
   
4. Improve communication and information sharing between researchers, driver trainers, parents and novice drivers so education material and lesson content is understood and reflects best practice.
   
   
5. Consider the introduction of a general first-aid course/program in Queensland schools to help address young peoples’ risk taking behaviours in life in general – not just on the road.
   
   
6. Research and develop methods to more effectively communicate road safety messages to young people.
   
   
7. Evaluate the young driver initiatives implemented in Queensland to date and make necessary adjustments to help improve the system, focusing on crash reduction.

References

Data Analysis Unit 2009, Personal Correspondence to RACQ, 03/06/09, Queensland Transport, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.

Market and Communications Research December 2008, RACQ Safety Policy. Survey: Quantitative Research Report, Market and Communications Research, Spring Hill, Queensland, Australia.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) 2006, Young Drivers: The Road to Safety, OECD Publishing, Paris, France.

Queensland Transport 2007, New licensing laws for young drivers in Queensland, Queensland Government, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Queensland Transport 2008, Queensland Road Safety Action Plan 2008-2009: safe4life, Queensland Government, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Safer Road Users: Alcohol

Contact

For more information contact RACQ Traffic and Safety on 1300 853 658 or 07 3872 8925, or email traffic@racq.com.au.