Today a new test has been put together to make it a lot harder for New Zealand teenagers to get their Restricted Licence (the ability for drive around by themselves).
The New Zealand Transport Agency are making no apologies for making the new test harder. They are making these changes in the hope that it would combatt the teen road toll, where they say on average one teenager dies on New Zealand road every week.
We have a problem with out Transport Agency, they are very secretive. They can tell us that on average one teenage dies on New Zealand roads every week, but they won't tell us how that teenager died. Were they walking across the road when someone else ran into them? Were they a passenger while an adult was driving? Were they driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol? These are questions that haven't been answered in their statement.
The news test is still a practical driving session, but it is now meant to take 45 minutes instead of the 20-25 minute test. In the new test you are still going to have all of the manoeuvres such as the three point turn, hill starts, stop sign and so on. But they are now adding a phase that was on our full licence test which is thinking ahead, labelling the possible hazards, saying out loud what you are going to be doing at the next set of light.
The NZTA say that the driver would need to do 120 hours of supervised practice first. They haven't said how they are going to check this off, or is it just a recommendation?
NZTA chief executive Geoff Dangerfield says:
"A higher standard of driving will be needed to pass - that is the whole point, and we make no apologies for that. This is about making new drivers safer drivers by encouraging them to take the time to develop their skills.
"The more experience that drivers gain in the learner licensing phase, the less likely they are to crash when they begin driving alone. We are doing young people no favours with a 'once-over-lightly' approach."
I want to see the proof that newly licences teenagers are driving franticly on our roads and are killing themselves. Because the stat's that the NZTA put into the defensive driving text books would show that it is the 21-25 age group that are causing the most harm on our roads.
To be honest, I don't really have a problem with the new standards of the test, they are making it harder to get your Restricted licence and easier to get your full after that. What I have a problem with is the cost.
At the present time the cost to sit your learners test is $93.90, Restricted: $108.10 and you full comes in at $136.20. And if you fail any of these test you don't get that money back. So why is it so expensive? I got my learners licence when I was in the USA, the test was very similar to our own, but instead of paying $90 for the piece of paper and then the slice of plastic with my photo and details on it I only paid $7.
How is that cost justified? It has gone up since I sat my full licence three years ago.
The NZTA said that they have no apologies for the stricter test, but how about the cost? Most teens fund that money themselves and if they are a couple of percentage points off from passing that is $110 down the drain. The test doesn't need to be that expensive, so change the cost and stop squeezing money out of our youth so they can convenience their family.
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