CASE STUDIES

Education for young drivers

In 2003, in light of the continuing high death rate among young and inexperienced drivers, state and territory Transport Ministers, through the Australian Transport Council, began exploring options for a best practice national driver education programme.

During the 2004 election, the Federal Government made a commitment to introduce a national compulsory driver education scheme for all new provisional licence holders. In December 2004, a Government-sponsored Young Driver Safety Forum was held with participants from a wide range of fields and interests. At the forum, Transport Ministers from New South Wales and Victoria announced the trial of a special novice driver education programme involving 14,000 young drivers. A further 14,000 were selected for a control group.

The programme will provide novice drivers with an understanding of their own limitations and an insight into how they can reduce the risks they face on the road. In 2004, 17-25 year olds accounted for 27% of all road deaths, even though they made up only 12.5% of the population.

The trial is being jointly funded by the three governments and the Victorian Transport Accident Commission, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, NRMA Insurance and RACV.

The young drivers' progress, as well as those in the control group, will be monitored for at least a year after the programme is completed. The trial will be one of the largest and most rigorous studies ever undertaken of post-licence driver education.