Raising the Driving Age
When I was a fifteen year old, the proposal to introduce a graduated license meant there was a rush of friends who sat their drivers license. (I left it until I was seventeen and had to go through the compulsory 6 months as a Learner, then 18 months as Restricted.) No doubt there will be a rush of 15 year olds now getting a license now as Parliament is set to debate a law raising the driving age.
Overall, I agree with the intent if the proposed bill. However, I share the concern of some that the bill is harsher on rural residents who don't have the public transport options of city dwellers, and sometimes need to operate tractors and vehicles on public roads to complete work on the farm.
A sensible compromise would be to allow Police Officers the discretion to allow 15 year olds to apply for a license. Police guidelines would set out the character required to obtain the waiver, and it could only be given when the officer knew the applicant was sensible enough to not be a danger on the road. This would make it difficult for urban kids to get a license as the only ones the Police will know will generally be the ones that are in trouble. But a rural officer will know everyone in their district - so will be more likely to be able to grant the waiver.
Overall, I agree with the intent if the proposed bill. However, I share the concern of some that the bill is harsher on rural residents who don't have the public transport options of city dwellers, and sometimes need to operate tractors and vehicles on public roads to complete work on the farm.
A sensible compromise would be to allow Police Officers the discretion to allow 15 year olds to apply for a license. Police guidelines would set out the character required to obtain the waiver, and it could only be given when the officer knew the applicant was sensible enough to not be a danger on the road. This would make it difficult for urban kids to get a license as the only ones the Police will know will generally be the ones that are in trouble. But a rural officer will know everyone in their district - so will be more likely to be able to grant the waiver.
posted by Michael at
8:39 AM
1 Comments:
Both sides of this debate are completely missing the point. While age has a big effect on maturity and hence driving habits, the fact is that the entire New Zealand driving population has woeful skills and scant regard for the rules.
Until the government does two things, nothing will alter the road toll except the current safety improvements being brought about by autombile manufacturers.
The first is that the current obsession with speed needs to stop. The Police need to start punishing people for the most common and dangerous indiscretions - ignoring (or ignorance of)give way rules, ignoring traffic signals, and tailgating.
The second is that the driver licencing standard needs to place almost total emphasis on practical driving skills. Currently, all a new licence denotes is that the holder has a temporary awareness of the road code and the basic ability to operate a motor vehicle. There is absolutely no need to know how to control one, under the full range of expected conditions. We are letting new drivers onto the roads having never driven at night, never driven in heavy rain, with no experience of correcting under or oversteer or even awareness of the concepts.
Madness.
By
Richard, at 11:34 AM
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