Driver Licensing
Measures to improve road safety are under discussion at the moment and the Government has been seeking New Zealander's views on how to reduce the road toll. Raising the age at which young drivers can gain their licence is one of the proposals. We have gathered young people’s views on this and other suggestions for improving road safety.
Raising the driving age
Young people’s views on ways to increase young driver safety were sought as part of the consultation process on the Ministry of Transport’s document: Safer Journeys. We were commissioned to undertake a consultation specifically with young people.
We held discussions during August and September 2009 with groups of young people and also received submissions from young people via an email survey. Their views on ways to increase young driver safety are summarised in the table below.
| Initiative | Support | Total responses | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | ||||
| % | Count | % | Count | ||
| Increasing the benefit of professional driver training | 84.6 | 215 | 15.4 | 39 | 254 |
| Compulsory third party insurance | 78.2 | 201 | 21.8 | 56 | 257 |
| Vehicle power restrictions | 58.3 | 151 | 41.7 | 108 | 259 |
| Impounding vehicles | 57.9 | 150 | 42.1 | 109 | 259 |
| Strengthening the restricted licence test | 57.0 | 150 | 43.0 | 113 | 263 |
| Extending the length of the learners licence | 43.5 | 114 | 56.5 | 148 | 262 |
| Increasing the minimum driving age | 43.4 | 115 | 56.6 | 150 | 265 |
