Tougher Restricted Driving Tests on the Way

The NZ Transport Agency is reminding young drivers that practical driving tests are about to get a lot harder.

The NZTA has been working for several months to develop a longer and more challenging restricted driving practical test to improve the safety of young and novice drivers as part of the Government’s Safer Journeys road safety strategy.

The new test will come into effect on 27 February 2012 - and the NZTA is reminding young drivers and their parents that a substantial amount of supervised practice will be needed to prepare for and pass the harder test.

NZTA Chief Executive Geoff Dangerfield said the more challenging test has been specifically designed to encourage learner drivers to clock up 120 hours of supervised practice before they sit the test.

“The experience that young drivers gain in the learner licensing phase can help protect them once they start to drive alone.  Research shows that young drivers who complete 120 hours of supervised practice on their learner licence have a solo-driving crash rate 40% lower than those who only complete 50 hours.

Young drivers are most at risk during the first six to 12 months of their restricted licence phase, when they start to drive solo, and are four times more likely to crash than learner drivers.

Mr Dangerfield said the new restricted test requires a more complex driving environment, including minimum levels of traffic, multiple lanes and merge lanes within a 60-80 km/h speed zone. 

NZTA crash statistics show that more than 700 Kiwi teenagers have died in road crashes in the past decade, with an average of one teenager killed on New Zealand roads every week in recent years. New Zealand has the highest road death rate in the OECD for 16-17 year olds, and the fourth highest road death rate for 18-20 year-olds.

“Road crashes are the single biggest killer of teenagers in New Zealand, and our teen crash rates are among the worst in the developed world. That’s a situation no-one should accept, and New Zealanders are looking for decisive action to reduce this needless waste of young life and young potential. Raising the standard of driving required to gain a licence with harder tests is an essential part of the solution.”

Further information about the content of the new restricted driver licence test is available on the NZTA website at http://www.nzta.govt.nz/licence/photo/new-restricted-test.html