[SA] Huge overhaul for young drivers

[ClairBear]

In the Advertiser today:

LONGER time on L-plates, restrictions on carrying passengers and night-time curfews have been flagged in a major overhaul of regulations on young drivers.

Road Safety Minister Tom Kenyon today revealed the plan, which includes withholding full licences until a driver's 21st birthday.
The current system involves young drivers progressing from their learner plates to provisional one then to provisional two before they get their full licence, as early as 19.
The new measures, if adopted, will include:
PASSENGER restrictions for all P1 drivers allowing no more than one passenger aged under 21 for the duration of their P1 licence. Exemptions will be made for immediate family and employment.
RESTRICTIONS on driving between midnight and 5 am for all P1 drivers. Exemptions will be made for work.
RAISING the minimum age for a provisional licence from 17 to 18 years, meaning drivers cannot drive solo until they are at least 18 years of age.
EXTENDING the total minimum L-plate period from two to three years.
REMOVING regression to a previous licence stage.
Mr Kenyon said the initiatives had the potential to significantly reduce road trauma for young drivers.
"These initiatives are not about making life tougher for young drivers. They're about protecting them and saving lives," he said.
"Over the last decade, more than 4000 young people aged between 16 and 24 have been killed or seriously injured on our roads.
"Research shows that crashes are most likely to occur during the first six to 12 months of holding a provisional licence when the driver is least experienced and driving unsupervised.
"The initiatives reflect world best practice, are evidence-based and have already been implemented to varying extents in other Australian states and territories."
Mr Kenyon said raising the minimum driving age will largely eliminate crashes involving 16 and 17 year old drivers, resulting in an estimated reduction of 60 to 70 fatal and serious injury crashes each year.
The plan has been released for consultation until December 9, but Mr Kenyon said he was predisposed to implement all measures.

[LittleMissVE]

We have the law in WA where P platers on red P plates (I'm assuming same as P1 & P2?) can't drive between midnight & 5am - exceptions for work.

I don't think the age should be lifted to GET a licence, but all the rest seems quite fair IMO.

[fuzzy2308]

good to hear

[MikeCuzzy]

All this put in place by people who spent drove on their L's for maybe a few months then were on their P's with no such restrictions. There's no point extending the time spent on L's and P's. Rather, everyone should have to do defensive driving courses and advanced driver training courses throughout their L and P period.

That said, there are some dumb as soup P-platers.

I still maintain better, shorter training is a much more effective solution than longer and at present craptastic training.

[Drawnnite]

reading that info i thought... and so what?

come to Vic and those are pretty much the laws.
except for the 12-5 curfew.
and we have to wait until 22 for a full licence.

[<RaBBiT>]

most is fair, but just sucks when ya loose ur license for gay reason (no p plates) and go bak to these rules when ur older

[Dr HaxZaw]

I'm assuming the government has never meet many people from the mang brigade... last time i heard they had trouble spelling let alone reading "rules"

[minux]

Sounds good, 17 is far too young these days, I barely trust the 17 year old making a burger at the local fish and chip shop let alone driving.

[ari666]

i stand by my opinion:

get rid of asian testers
make tests harder
remove any chance of cash payments for immediate "passes"

/problem

[Swordsy]

make tests harder
/problem

This will do

[Grennan]

i stand by my opinion:

get rid of asian testers
make tests harder
remove any chance of cash payments for immediate "passes"

/problem

Asians teaching asians. Not to be completely racist, but it scares me. Parents teaching their kids should be changed as well.

[87RB30VL]

Put it this way, if you're going to drive like a retard, you're going to drive like a retard.

I could do 5000 hours of intensive physical and mental testing, and at the end of it, know how to take apart a car and put it back together while hanging upside down, blindfolded & getting beaten by soap in a pillowcase, but if I still want to drive like a tard, I would.

Like, it's good, but let's face it, people will speed/drive like tools, it's in some people's nature.

[elmaso]

Asians teaching asians. Not to be completely racist, but it scares me. Parents teaching their kids should be changed as well.

they should have a better system, but if they do that they would have to eliminate the 120 hour rule.
which i think 100 is fine, ####, even 80.

[Grennan]

they should have a better system, but if they do that they would have to eliminate the 120 hour rule.
which i think 100 is fine, ####, even 80.

No. Dont reduce the hours.

You must have a certain ratio of paid licensed driving tests. Like... 80% actual driver instruction. So many bad habits and parents who dont know what the #### they are on about passing on their "knowledge".

[Crisis63]

Its not “fair” because like all laws it punishes the majority for the transgressions of the relative few. That said I don’t disagree with some elements.

PASSENGER restrictions for all P1 drivers allowing no more than one passenger aged under 21 for the duration of their P1 licence. Exemptions will be made for immediate family and employment. Tick.


RESTRICTIONS on driving between midnight and 5 am for all P1 drivers. Exemptions will be made for work. Tick. Although it kinda reeks of curfew.

RAISING the minimum age for a provisional licence from 17 to 18 years, meaning drivers cannot drive solo until they are at least 18 years of age. Age isn’t really the issue here. A 17 year old idiot will still be an idiot at 18 and a few years more.

EXTENDING the total minimum L-plate period from two to three years. I don’t know what that means.

Thing is the major problem is young boys driving to pose or street racing. Young girls are dangerous for different reasons, generally inattentiveness but they don’t generally drive and the extreme speeds as boys. And they are less inclined to try to impress with their awesome car control skills.
The test should be extended to include practical accident avoidance. Problem is the cost.

[Julie]

I think its pretty stupid. It just delays the inevitable. 17 year olds don't crash and kill people 17 year old retards do, they will just grow into 18 year old retards.

[bogan_vk]

i definatley think they should make it harder to get a licence, make them do a defensive driving course as already mentioned .. i remember years ago when i got mine ,i couldnt drive for shit and they still gave me a licence. being a good driver comes with practice and lots of it. but there will always be young tards on the road they will never stop that.

[MikeCuzzy]

People will speed/drive like tools, it's in some people's nature.

When I rise to power, these people will be sterilized.

[acex1138]

Tom Kenyon is my local representative and I know him personally and i'm regretting voting for him.

Before new legislation is introduced I'd like it proven the last lot had any affect... when they introduced the high powered restrictions.... I want to see their evidence that backs up that this had any effect.

I'm planning on having a few words with him over this and asking him where he's getting his statistics from and if he's looked into it.

Ive been living in qld and nsw for the last two months.... they have tighter laws then us and they have had NO effect.


When I was in highschool I went to one which had some of the highest road fatalities for P platers, a bright teacher came up with a drivers education course which was mainly theory but taught you road dangers, condition dangers, how to get out of dangerous situations, how to prevent them and most importantly SURVIVE them.

I think i've said it time and time again on here, doing this course in high school gave me a lot of skills that when I have been in situations which required these skills i've had them.

Many others who have done this course at banksia park and at birdwood high can vouch for it.

The state government has next to no interest in getting this course into every school, when the teacher retired.... they openly said to him, now that you arent running it we're not interested in training someone else to do it.


So why is the state government shunning a course, not wanting to fund it or spread it around that helps young drivers.

Drivers education needs to be a MANDATORY subject as part of a sace certificate, and they need to introduce a first aid certificate as part of this course. You do this I swear to god it will pay for it more in the long run then tightening laws.

[jatsvl]

I think this is stupid and what needs to be done is restrict the types of vehicles they are driving and mandatory defensive driving courses e.g. skid pan to control a vehicle in an emergency situation.
I think the biggest problem is that when these kids get cut off or similar they slam the foot down on the brake pedal and become passengers themselves because they have never locked up the wheels in a car and have no idea what to expect or do.

it is good to see most of the public are sensible about this and are AGAINST these restrictions and more for education.
read some of the comments.

Tough lincencing overhaul for South Australia's young drivers | Adelaide Now

[Grennan]

Weve got the same laws here in Vic pretty much. Its really done squat.

[DAKSTER]

OK as someone raised in the NT.. I have no clue if the system is the same now, but I believe this was the way to go..

I signed up for driver education at school in Darwin in the 70s. It was an elective subject, at least one class daily for the minimum 3 months you were required to have a learners permit before you could get a licence. It included theory and practical driving lessons, defensive driving training, and a visit to a rehab centre where people were recovering from major accidents. It also included one memorable visit to the morgue. You were required to do a minimum number of hours behind the wheel as homework also.

Because I was doing driver education at school, the law entitled me to Ls at 15 & 9 months. I got my Ps on my 16th birthday, wore them for a year, then got a full licence on my 17th birthday.

The incentive of course was being able to get my Ps a year earlier than those who didnt do the course at school. The result was that I was trained to drive properly. A win/win for everyone.

Of course, I still had a 16 year old brain (oops an oxymoron lol), so yeah I did some silly things despite the training. Its my belief though that I would have been a lot stupider without the training.. because I had some knowledge about the limits of a car and the results of a cockup. I also had some extra skills which may have saved my life in those early years, and have certainly stood me well through time.

Proper driver training, including defensive driving and shock therapy ( kinda confronting for a 16 year old to see a body in the morgue killed by a car accident the previous day..) , should be compulsory, not the copout they have now. Fill out a log book, whooppee, I can do that. Dont even need to drive to do that.

Provide driver training in all schools, offer the carrot of an earlier or higher rated license as an incentive. It worked for me.

[Stressball]

Ok so all points aside, this boggles my ####ing mind:

Mr Kenyon said raising the minimum driving age will largely eliminate crashes involving 16 and 17 year old drivers, resulting in an estimated reduction of 60 to 70 fatal and serious injury crashes each year.

So by raising the p plate age (and reducing the number of 17yo p platers to 0) they will reduce the number of crashes by 16-17 year olds. STOP THE PRESSES! The most stupid part is that they seem to think that none of those people who would have been on p's at 17, are going to crash if they get their p's at 18. All this means is that there will be less crashes with 17yo drivers, and the same number increase in crashes with 18yo drivers. GENIUS!

[Parabola]

So by raising the p plate age (and reducing the number of 17yo p platers to 0) they will reduce the number of crashes by 16-17 year olds. STOP THE PRESSES! The most stupid part is that they seem to think that none of those people who would have been on p's at 17, are going to crash if they get their p's at 18. All this means is that there will be less crashes with 17yo drivers, and the same number increase in crashes with 18yo drivers. GENIUS!

lol this is true, i agree. there wont be 16-17yo crashing there cars it will just be dumb ass 18 year olds crashing.

imo raising the age wont to anything, but making the tests harder and longer (lol) will help.

[acex1138]

Heard some interesting comments from him this morning.

As most of you know I was 2 weeks off my full license, when I got done for driving with a mobile phone while parked. Long story result, I got regressed to p1's and locked on them for 3 years.

So i've been on my p's for 5 years.

Tom Kenyon only wants to eliminate this regression law, because of the amount of people who have been regressed at a later age INCREASING the number of p plates, which he claims is fudging the numbers of people that the high power restrictions have 'saved'.

This doesnt make sense as the regression law came into effect nearly 3 years ago... the high powered laws came into effect 12 months ago.... so mate thats 2 years that you dont have an excuse to backup your claims... hmmm