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> Our Publications > New Zealand Outlook > 2002 > November
Easier driving
tests planned STARTING next year, a
two-year trial for about 3000 volunteer novice drivers
will be run as part of the $30 million road safety
package.
A Land Transport Safety Authority spokesman said a
competency-based training and assessment programme would
replace practical tests.
Incremental grading would be carried out by approved
driving instructors over the course of the learners'
lessons - much like swapping an exam for an internal
assessment system.
Novice drivers will have to log number of driving hours
to progress. Learners will still have to sit a theory
test before driving. But it was possible that hours spent
behind the wheel with parents would count.
Meanwhile, police are to get 60 extra staff and new
equipment as part of a $34 million road safety package
aimed at cutting road deaths by almost a third over the
next seven years.
The road safety initiatives are the first steps in the
Government's road safety strategy.
Drivers could face other problems as police say the
alarming rise in the use of speed and Ecstasy means
roadside drug testing is inevitable.
Already several states in Australia, Italy, Finland and
other European countries are using or testing new
technology that can show whether a driver is under the
influence of speed or Ecstasy within five minutes of a
simple saliva test.
Each test costs $47 and the hardware just over $10,500.
Land Transport Safety Authority figures show that in each
of the past three years 2 per cent of drivers killed on
roads were under the influence of drugs. Another 8 per
cent were under the influence of drugs and alcohol,
though not all victims were tested.
Police National Road Safety manager Steve Fitzgerald said
he was watching developments in Australia.
"Undoubtedly it [roadside testing] will come,"
he said.
"There is a lot of interest internationally in the
contribution of crashes as well as other disorder [that
drugs cause] in society
The biggest problem facing New Zealand is current
legislation.
There is no defined threshold for testing or prosecuting
someone who is driving under the influence of drugs.
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