For some time I've been questioning the real value of the 120 hours of driving time that NSW learner drivers must accomplish before sitting their test.
Today there is confirmation of my gut feeling about this:
Research by the NRMA reveals 40 per cent of young drivers have either lied about their hours behind the wheel, are thinking about lying, or know someone who has since licensing requirements changed from 50 to 120 practice hours in 2007.Parents have been warned that by approving false logbooks they face heavy penalties and risk the safety of their children.ALMOST 14 per cent of learner drivers are falsifying their logbooks and thousands are delaying their driving test, overwhelmed by the 120 hours of practice needed to earn a P-plate licence.
Is it possible that there is a connection between the next two paragraphs?
The number of people sitting the test fell by 10,000 last year, Roads and Traffic Authority figures show. And the number of people passing has fallen to a five-year low.
In the 18 months before the changes, 67 P-plate drivers were killed, the RTA said. Preliminary data since the new regime show this has fallen to 46.
The Assistant Commissioner for Traffic Services, John Hartley, said passenger limits and curfews, licensing requirements and stricter P-plate tests had contributed to "a significant reduction of deaths [in] young people on our roads".
It seems obvious that if you make it very difficult for people to get their licence, so much so that you significantly reduce the number of first-year drivers then their has to be a reduction in the number of fatalities, even if there is no significant improvement in driving ability.
I also think that the huge number of people being booked for driving unaccompanied on a Learners licence has everything to do with the fact that people just cannot get anyone to go with them for that ridiculous number of hours.
I guess in theory it's a good idea, but practically, I would think the authorities would have seen this coming.
ReplyDelete:O You've been lying about Josh's hours? But that's lying! That logbook is a legal document! I am very disappointed in you! :P
ReplyDeleteYou would think so wouldn't you? I think most people think that 120 hours is way too much and that just invites people to tell lies. I generally round out Josh's start and finish times, so he will probably end up doing a little less than the 120 hours.It is a huge impost in terms of both time and money for parents of learners and for very little if any practical outcome.
ReplyDeleteI just correct for relativity effects- which at 80 km/hr are pretty huge. I'm not talking big differences- maybe 5 minutes or so in an hour. Occasionally they get rounded the other way so it all evens out... more or less :P
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