What the Tasmanian Liberals will do:

Make it a condition before getting a learner licence for a student to complete a driver education course at school – and show evidence of satisfactory school attendance and that they have behaved responsibly at school.

Comprehensive Road Safety Policy

The Tasmanian Liberals have developed a comprehensive road safety policy package that blends sanctions with incentives, which we believe will contribute to a lowering of the death and casualty rate among Tasmanian road users.

We are leaders on road safety policy. Our political opponents have followed and adopted a number of Liberal policy initiatives and in the interests of saving lives on our roads, we will continue to urge the Government to act on all of our policy initiatives.

Linking Responsibility – at School and on the Road

The Federal Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government has found:

• Young drivers aged between 17 and 25 are eleven times more likely to be killed or injured in crashes.
• Young drivers are also more likely to be involved in road crashes, whether deaths or injuries occur or not.
• P plate drivers have a significantly higher risk of being involved in crashes during the first few months of solo driving.
• Tasmania has the highest rate of fatalities per 100,000 registered vehicles – 15 per 100,000 – which is an increase of 5 over the last five years and which is going against the national trend.

A Hodgman Liberal Government will introduce two new initiatives to better prepare novice drivers for the responsibility of driving on our roads.

We firmly believe that a driver licence is a privilege, not a right.

And privileges have to be earned.

Under a Liberal Government, a student wanting a learner driver licence before he or she turns 18 will have to first complete a driver education course at school.

Learning to drive will be part of their education.

They will get an idea about such things as their responsibilities on the road as a driver, passenger and pedestrian, the power of motor vehicles, what to do in different road conditions and basic first aid.  They can also learn about the effect of speed, inattention, alcohol and drugs on them and other road users.

School attendance and behaviour

In addition, students applying for a learner driver licence will have to show two things – that they have a satisfactory school attendance record, and that they have behaved responsibly at school.

Behaving responsibly at school should mean no pattern of suspensions or expulsions.  That information is centrally held for State schools and locally held by non-government schools, so there would be no extra burden on school administrators.

If they can’t provide a satisfactory attendance and behaviour record, they won’t be able to get a learner driver licence until after they have turned 18 years of age or unless they have earned back that privilege through better behaviour.

A responsible attitude at school is more likely to lead to a responsible approach behind the wheel.

Our Liberal policy will give students an added incentive to behave at school, and the driver education course will instill a basic understanding of road safety before these young Tasmanians get on the road.

The Tasmanian Liberals’ policy will encourage young Tasmanians seeking their first learner driver licence to be better prepared when they get behind the wheel.

These initiatives are part of the Tasmanian Liberals’ comprehensive road safety policy package that blends sanctions with incentives will contribute to a lowering of the death and casualty rate among Tasmanian road users.