LOCAL teenagers, parents and driving instructors have welcomed moves to cut the number of hours learner drivers must log before sitting for their P-plates.
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Learner drivers must currently log 120 hours driving practice, including 20 hours of night driving, placing a huge burden on many time-poor families across the state.
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But the legislation may be scrapped after the State Government decided the regulation puts too much strain on families.
Bathurst driving instructor Warren Aubin yesterday said he always thought 120 hours for learner drivers was excessive.
“I wasn’t in favour of the new regulations [introduced in 2007],” he said. “I just thought it puts a lot of pressure on families.
“I’ve just recently taught my own son to drive and when you come home from working all day and you have a teenager waving a log book in your face it can be a little too much.
“Having to do 120 hours takes a lot of spare time, not to mention the cost of petrol and wear and tear on your car.
“I’d welcome a drop in logging hours.”
Learner driver Dani Coles knows all too well the difficulty in racking up those driving hours.
The 17-year-old, who has had her L-plates for about nine months, finds it hard to find time in between school work and employment commitments when her dad is free to take her on a driving lesson.
“I think 80 hours plus 20 night time hours would be better,” she said yesterday.
“Because it’s hard to find time in between school and work when Dad can take me.”
Dani’s mum Tracy Coles said she’d like to see driving lessons become part of the school curriculum.
Dani agreed. “It would definitely make it easier for people to get their driving hours up,” she said.
As an instructor with 16 years’ teaching experience, Cr Aubin said he thought learner drivers should complete 50 hours plus 20 night hours.
“I think 50 plus 20 night hours would be fair, although there would be a lot of people who disagree.
“There will be people who think 120 hours is great, because it gives the driver more experience, and that is a strong argument.”
Cr Aubin said if there was one thing he would like changed in the regulation it was the inclusion of an advanced driving course for learners before they progressed to their provisional licence, a system which already existed in the ACT.
“It looks at things like steering and braking techniques, identifying hazards.
“There is definitely a need to learn extra skills.”
Cr Aubin also believed a minimum requirement with an accredited driving instructor should remain part of the requirements for learner drivers.
