Young drivers in New Zealand are committing around 40% fewer traffic offences than a decade ago but more work is needed to address remaining high youth fatality rates from road crashes, according to the country’s Automobile Association.
In 2016, the AA Research Foundation released a report into youth (15-19 year old) traffic offences that showed a substantial decline in offending between 2009 and 2013. The Foundation has recently gathered the latest data showing this downward trend has continued to 2024.
“Factoring in the substantial increase in young drivers over that time, overall offending rates have fallen by 41%, drunk and drugged driving by 58% and seatbelt offences by 52%,” said AA road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen.
“That’s a real positive and demonstrates that we are heading in the right direction with the various road safety initiatives and legislative and policy changes that have been undertaken over time.”
Alongside the downward trend in offending, youth fatality rates from road crashes have also fallen but the AA said they still remain tragically high.
“New Zealand’s young drivers have the highest rates of road deaths in the OECD, added Dylan.
The Government is currently considering changes to the Graduated Driver Licensing System and the AA has called for three key changes to be added to the driver licencing proposal to help bring down the high rate of crashes and deaths among young New Zealanders.
They are:
- Increasing the learner period from six to 12 months to allow people to gain more experience under supervision before driving solo.
- Requiring a minimum 60 hours of practice with a supervisor across a range of conditions on a learner licence – an approach used widely overseas.
- Professional training incentivised by accelerating progress through the practice hours system – for example crediting two or three hours following a one-hour session with a professional instructor.
