Defensive driving key to improve road safety

20 March 2013

Defensive driving key to improve road safety

New motorists need to build on their skills behind the wheel in order to be safer drivers and to demonstrate they are serious about their responsibilities on the road.

AA Driving School General Manager Nigel Clark says it has been more than a year since a tougher restricted driver licensing regime was introduced which has seen more than half of the tests that were sat by learner drivers failed.

In the 12 months since it was introduced, more than 61,000 tests have been sat by people going for their restricted licence and about 32,000 tests were failed.

While the overall pass rate has improved to 48% from the 41% achieved when the new regime was put in place in late February 2012, Mr Clark says the continuing high failure rate shows that learner drivers now need to improve efforts to lift their driving experience to a level that will satisfy the driver licence test standards.

“Learner drivers need to look at ways of improving their skills and demonstrate they are serious about their responsibilities on the road.

“We all want learner drivers to have a core set of skills that will enable them to navigate from A to B easily while observing all the road rules and being mindful of potential dangers around them.”

There are three stages on the journey towards getting a full driver licence:

1. Learner Licence: computerised theory test requires 32 correct answers out of 35

2. Restricted Licence: after holding a Learners Licence for six months, successfully complete practical test that assesses driving ability and knowledge of road rules

3. Full Licence: after holding a Restricted Licence for 18 months, successfully complete practical test that assesses drivers to ensure they are at a standard where they are safe and require no restriction

The NZ Transport Agency recommends 120 hours of supervised practice before going for a restricted licence, which is about 4½ hours a week behind the wheel if you’re going for your restricted licence six months after passing your learner licence.

“New drivers need to learn a lot very quickly and have to cope with a range of very different situations, so driving is like any other skilled task and requires practice to perfect.”

Mr Clark says the AA upgraded its NZTA-approved Defensive Driving Course to reflect the tougher driving licensing regime and to enable drivers on their learner licence to attend.

“Our course includes a state-of-the-art online learning system from eDrive that provides real life virtual driving situations with students sitting in the driver’s seat.”

Integrated with the AA Defensive Driving Course at the beginning of this year, more than 1000 people have successfully gone through the eDrive programme. It focuses on driving skills that are directly related to crash risk and provides a safe way for new drivers to learn about road hazards and the need to identify risks and avoid them.

“Completion of a DDC means new drivers are able to reduce the time by six months before taking the test to achieve a full driver licence.”

Since its launch in 2011, eDrive has had about 5000 people participate in its programme.

Those eligible for the AA Defensive Driving Course must hold a restricted licence or have held a learner’s licence for at least four months or have at least 50 hours driving experience. It includes a one hour in-car session and develops driving skills. Go to aa.co.nz/drivers for more information or call 0800 223 748.

The New Zealand Automobile Association is an incorporated society with over one million members. It represents the interests of road users who collectively pay over $2 billion in taxes each year through fuels excise, road user charges and GST.

For more information visit www.aa.co.nz and www.edrive.co.nz

ENDS

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