AA General Manager Motoring Affairs Mike Noon says the AA has lobbied for these changes to the Graduated Driver Licence System for a number of years.

"We want agencies to get on and make these law changes as soon as possible," he says.

Among the changes, the restricted driver licence will be harder to get by requiring up to 120 hours of supervised driving while someone is on their learner licence. This brings New Zealand in line with requirements in many other countrie

However, Mr Noon says that most young people will struggle to get 120 hours of supervised driving in six months, which is the minimum compulsory time for being on the learner licence.

"We encourage parents to keep their children on the learner licence for longer than six months so they achieve 120 hours of supervised driving. Getting more supervised experience in a wide range of driving conditions makes a big difference to their skills and will help to keep them safer during the high risk period when they first drive on their own.

"Novice drivers under adult supervision on their learner licence are in fact the safest drivers on our roads. Unfortunately, when they first start to drive solo on their restricted licence, their risk of crashing soars and they become the drivers most likely to crash."

The AA will continue to push for increasing the minimum learner licence period from six to 12 months. Over a 12 month period, 120 hours of supervised practice equates to approximately 2-3 hours a week.

The AA also strongly supports more road safety education in schools.

"Road crashes cause more deaths and injuries among young New Zealanders than anything else so there is clearly a need for better understanding and road safety skills among young people," says Mr Noon.

The AA also supports the Government's intent to restrict the power of vehicles that young people can drive, but says this will be difficult to implement and is not helped by the huge array of car models available in New Zealand.

The Association has recently endorsed a UN resolution for a Decade of Action for Road Safety and will be continuing to work with government agencies to assist with sensible solutions to keep young drivers and all road users safe, says Mr Noon.

For more information contact

Mike Noon
General Manager Motoring Affairs
New Zealand Automobile Association
T. +64 9 931 9984
M.+64 021 659 704
E. mnoon@aa.co.nz

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.