What you can do as a young driver
Knowing the Australian Road Rules is one thing. Applying them to the road environment requires skills, knowledge of hazard perception, extensive practice and an understanding of how you, as a young driver, respond to pressures and distractions.
National and South Australian research has found four main reasons for the serious levels of fatality and casualty statistics in the young driver age group.
| As a young driver, be aware of these factors, especially in relation to your own driving and that of your peers. | |
| Risk taking | Research has found that young drivers, particularly males, are more likely to drink drive and to drive too fast for the road conditions. |
| Perception of hazards | The skills to anticipate and accurately assess hazards develop over time. Young drivers often put themselves in potentially hazardous situations e.g. driving too close to the vehicle in front or running red lights rather than stopping. |
| Passengers | Young driver crash risk increases when they carry similar age passengers. This is likely to be due to distractions caused by the passengers, as well as peer pressure on the driver to take risks. |
| Night driving | Many crashes which lead to the death of young drivers occur at night, particularly on weekend nights and when carrying several passengers. This is likely to be due to inexperience in night driving as well as risk taking. |
Young drivers can take charge of building their driving skills and experience:
- as a learner driver, get as much driving practice as possible. Learner drivers who have around 120 hours of supervised practice have been shown to have substantial crash reductions – up to 35%
- learn to drive defensively – defensive driving involves learning to anticipate trouble before it happens The competency based (log book) scheme for obtaining a driver’s licence uses a defensive driving approach, as do many driving instructors. Defensive driving courses will improve all aspects of your driving
- try to avoid carrying more than one passenger (especially of a similar age to the driver). Research shows the risk of young drivers crashing increases when carrying two or more passengers in the vehicle. In South Australia, 30% of drivers aged 16 to 19 involved in fatal crashes from 2004 to 2008 were driving with two or more passengers. By contrast 14% of drivers aged 25 and over involved in fatal crashes were carrying two or more passengers.
- ask a more experienced or fully licensed driver to drive a group of young people – or, if you are driving a group of people, try to make sure at least one person is an experienced or fully licensed driver
- gain experience in night driving – provisionally licensed drivers in South Australia aged 16 -17 who are driving very late at night have crash rates up to 7 times the day time rates. Night driving requires more skills and concentration, so it is smart to practise night driving often and, if possible, have a more experienced driver travel with you.
What the Law says
Under the Australian Road Rules, young drivers are understood to be those driving under the conditions of a Learner’s Permit, a Probationary Licence or a P1 or P2 Provisional Licence, and are usually between the ages of 17 and 25. To obtain any level of driving licence, they must have passed the Graduated Licensing Scheme requirements.
The Road Rules described in The Driver's Handbook.
Penalties
Under the Graduated Licensing Scheme, learner and provisional drivers who are caught:
• with any alcohol in their blood, or
• speeding at 10 km/h or more above a speed limit, or
• without any L or P-plates attached to their vehicle (except P2 drivers), or
• who have accumulated 4 or more demerit points
can expect to receive a fine and a minimum 6 months loss of licence. These penalties are in addition to any other penalty such as attendance at a session in the Driver Intervention Program, going back to a previous licence stage (regression) and re-passing certain tests.
Publications
Hazard Perception Test handbook
Links
South Australian young driver statistics
Australian Government Novice driver brochures
RAA Learner Driver Theory Test Practice
Roads 2 Survival Driving Agreement
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Young driver FAQs