Young drivers have rubbished plans for compulsory R plates

By Jamie Morton

NZ Herald

5:30 AM Thursday May 31, 2012

Otumoetai College students (who include from left) Grace McKerras, Chris Charlton, Kane Carter, Jack Dodd and Jessica Lacy are not sure if the R plate idea will work. Picture / Alan GibsonTeenagers suggest better training, bigger fines, engine restrictions and 'listening'

Young drivers have rubbished plans for compulsory R plates, with one asking, "Are they going to have O plates for old people as well?"
The discussion group of six Year 12 students from Otumoetai College in Tauranga - 16-year-olds Grace McKerras, Jessica Lacy, Abbie Brown, Kane Carter and Jack Dodd and 17-year-old Chris Charlton - were unanimously against the idea and said young drivers around the country would rail against the measure if it was introduced.
All agreed with Kane's summary of the plan: "It's a bad idea, a waste of money and people won't comply with it anyway - there are other ways of keeping the death toll down that would be way more accepted."
Associate Transport Minister Simon Bridges said R plates would be considered this year as part of a push to reduce the road toll, but it was not clear whether the plates would mirror the Australian system.
A new report found more than half of "high-risk" drivers were under the age of 30.

More than 700 Kiwi teenagers have died in road crashes in the past decade, and the country has the highest road death rate in the OECD for 16- and 17-year-olds and the fourth-highest for 18- to 20-year-olds.
But the discussion group said that although R plates would be a good motivator for people to get their full licences as soon as possible, they would also put many teens off driving.
Instead, they suggested bigger fines, better driver training, restrictions on engine power, access to race tracks and other changes to the licensing system.
"A little sign isn't going to make you a better driver," Grace said.
Abbie: "It's just one more thing you have to worry about, really - and the bad drivers wouldn't comply at all, they just wouldn't worry about it, and the police would be pulling over only those obeying the law."
Kane believed young drivers were unfairly viewed as "boy racers" - and none of the group believed lawmakers listened to young people when making decisions. Said one: "They already just changed the rules, and all it is is a small population making it bad for everyone else."
Those drivers, the group said, would know better than to display R plates when driving other passengers late at night.
"You get bad drivers at any age," Kane said.
Added Abbie: "What about older drivers? Are they going to have O plates for old people as well?"
Being able to drive was important to young people both practically and socially, they said, and meant freedom and transport to after-school jobs and sport commitments.
They agreed the plates would unfairly bring stigma to those who had to display them, meaning they would be seen the way others see drivers with L plates.
Kane said: "Just because you have to have an R plate, it won't change your driving."
'R plates' a waste of money?
A former top traffic cop now working as a freelance driver examiner in Queensland has rubbished the concept of R plates for restricted licence holders.
Sandy Beckett, the former officer in charge of Auckland's serious crash unit, regards the suggestion as a waste of money and political "lip service".
He said that in Australia, "P" plates for provisional licence holders had failed to change behaviour among the country's youngest and most reckless drivers.
Provisional licensing varies among Australian states, but all early provisional licences require drivers to display the plates, usually red on white depending on the motorists' age.
Depending on the state, P-plate holders are limited to when they can drive and who they can drive with, and face tougher demerit punishments for infringements.
Mr Beckett believed it was simply experience that made drivers better behind the wheel - and whether they had to display plates was irrelevant.
"The Government is simply shifting around and saying, 'Look at us, we are doing something about it' - but there's nothing you can do about it," he said.
"They'd be better off spending money in other areas. If there was a silver bullet to stop young people dying in crashes, do you think the problem would have been solved by now?"
But the AA's motoring affairs general manager, Mike Noon, said R plates could prevent possible incidences of alcohol-related driving and driving late at night.
"It may not be cool to display them but R plates would better identify inexperienced drivers and show others they haven't got their full licence yet."
The AA had not reached a formal view on R plates.
After the new restricted licence regime was introduced in February, the national pass rate rose from 38 per cent in March to 41 per cent last month.

Teens' Wake up Call

Daniel Birchfield
Timaru Herald
30 may 2012
The recent Drive 2 Survive seminar at the Waitaki Recreation Centre has given high school pupils a sobering reminder of the perils young drivers can face.
The one-day seminar is designed for year 12 pupils and has been held in Oamaru for the past several years.
The content is focused on a simulated car crash and has individual workshop areas which cover the physics of a car accident, modified vehicles SADD (Students Against Driving Drunk) and the human cost of crashes.
The organiser of the event, Waitaki District Council road safety co-ordinator Elton Crane, said he was very pleased with how many pupils attended from Oamaru's three secondary schools.
"This is the first time there has been 100 per cent commitment from Waitaki Boys' High School, Waitaki Girls' High School and St Kevin's College in sending their year 12 students," Mr Crane said.
"This is also the first time the event has been held entirely indoors and the recreation centre has proven to be an excellent facility for this purpose."
Last year the seminar was held at the Oamaru Fire Station, with Exe St closed to traffic.
Mr Crane said the pupils who attended went home with a basic message.
"Every year crashes affect thousands of people around New Zealand," he said. "Other than road users, a crash affects family, friends, co-workers, emergency services and many, many more.
"The message from the seminar is simple – the choices made in respect of vehicles and other modes of transport affect more people than just you."
He also acknowledged the efforts of emergency services.
"They did an outstanding job of explaining the realities of their roles to the students. They are people who deal with crashes and see the true impact of irresponsible driving and they have my utmost respect," Mr Crane said.

Trial Aims For Safer Speeds Around Rural Schools

11:29 May 18, 2012

Scoop.co.nz

Press Release – NZTA

The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) will begin a trial of variable speed limits outside rural schools next month as part of the agency’s ongoing effort to reduce serious crashes and improve safety on rural New Zealand roads.Trial Aims For Safer Speeds Around Rural Schools
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) will begin a trial of variable speed limits outside rural schools next month as part of the agency’s ongoing effort to reduce serious crashes and improve safety on rural New Zealand roads.
NZTA Chief Advisor, Safety Directions Lisa Rossiter says the speed of traffic around schools is a concern to parents, teachers and others in many rural communities, as school drop-offs and pick-ups often take place in high speed traffic environments.
“Our aim is to create a road system in which crashes are survivable. To do that we really need to reduce speeds around our vulnerable youngsters and we also need to accept that people, including children, will make mistakes on the road. It’s up to all of us to share responsibility for making the system as safe as we can. Driving at lower speeds around schools when kids are coming and going is part of that.”
Ms Rossiter said NZTA investigations have shown that for many rural New Zealand schools the main traffic safety issue is the risk of crashes with vehicles turning into or out of the school grounds to drop-off or pick-up children.
She said the trial is a natural extension of the “slow down round schools” programme introduced by Police several years ago and will examine whether safer speeds can be achieved and a safer environment created during these times using a range of permanent and variable school speed limits.
“By reducing speed limits at specified times before and after school, we’re aiming to reduce the risk of serious crashes involving turning traffic,” says Ms Rossiter. “It should also provide a safer road environment for pedestrians or cyclists using the road outside the schools.”
Ms Rossiter said a similar approach had been employed successfully around many urban schools in New Zealand and the use of variable speed limits was increasingly common overseas.
The NZTA’s efforts to manage speeds outside schools are part of the agency’s commitment to the Government’s road safety strategy Safer Journeys. Safer Journeys adopts the world leading ‘Safe System’ approach to reducing unnecessary deaths and serious injuries from road crashes. The safe system approach aims to create an environment that is forgiving of human error so that people do not needlessly die or get seriously injured as the result of a simple mistake, such as misjudging the speed of an oncoming vehicle It focuses on safer speeds, safer roads and roadsides, safer road use, and safer vehicles.
Ms Rossiter said five schools would initially take part in the trial, with the first step being the introduction of a permanent 80km/h speed limit at four of the trial schools.
This will be followed up with the installation of ‘variable message’ electronic signs at each of the five schools (similar to those currently being used outside schools in urban areas). The signs, funded for the trial by the Road Safety Trust, will display the variable speed limit for each school during their key pick up and drop off times.
The five schools taking part in the trial (and each of their variable speed limits) are detailed below:
• Whenuakite School (SH25) near Whitianga will have a new permanent 80km/h speed limit with a variable 40km/h school zone speed limit.
• Te Uku School (SH 23) near Raglan will have a new permanent 80km/h speed limit with a variable 60km/h speed limit.
• Paki Paki School (SH50A) near Hastings will have a new permanent 80km/h speed limit with a variable 60km/h speed limit.
• Opiki School (SH56) near Palmerston North will have a new permanent 80km/h with a variable 60km/h speed limit.
• Kai Iwi School (SH3) near Wanganui will have a new variable 70km/h speed limit (and no change to the permanent speed limit of 100 km/h).
The NZTA is aiming to have the variable speed limit signs in place and operating at all schools by the end of June. This is an excellent example of working together to make our roads safer, says Ms Rossiter. This type of project requires commitment from a wide range of groups, including the schools and communities involved, the Road Safety Trust, the NZ Police and organisations involved in planning, implementing and monitoring the changes. And most of all it requires support from the NZ public to slow down around schools.
To assess the effectiveness of the variable speed limits, monitoring of traffic speeds and driver behaviour will be undertaken during the trial. The initial trial is expected to continue for up to two years. During that time, the NZTA will continue investigations into identifying other schools to be added to the trial.

Road toll can be a choice

7:31 16/05/2012
Southland Times

 

OPINION: How many people should be killed and hurt on New Zealand roads this year, asks AA Motoring Affairs general manager Mike Noon.

That may sound like a ridiculous question, a heartless question, but please consider it for a moment.
Would 300 deaths be about right for a nation of our size? Maybe 250? What is the lowest number you think we could realistically achieve?
I ask this because someone recently asked me: "Why do we accept road deaths?" When you first hear a statement like this, your immediate response is denial.
If you were pressed you might say something like "there will always be idiots on the road who end up hurting themselves or, even worse, others, but that doesn't mean we `accept' road deaths". We are so used to seeing twisted heaps of metal in the news that the equation that roads + cars = deaths is ingrained in us with a sense of grim inevitability.
We have to end that thinking.
We have it in our power right now to dramatically reduce the number of people killed and hurt on our roads, and this is what the UN's Decade of Action for Road Safety is about. Left unchecked, road crashes will soon be the fifth-biggest killer of people on the planet and the Decade of Action was launched to counter this epidemic.
Today marks the end of the decade's first year in New Zealand and although there is a lot to celebrate about our recent progress, the key change that we have to achieve for it to be successful is in the hearts and minds of the driving public.
Consider for a moment that 257 people died in the Mt Erebus disaster of 1979. There was a mass outpouring of grief and outrage leading ultimately to a Royal Commission of Inquiry to find out what caused the tragedy and prevent something like it happening again.
Last year, 284 people died on our roads. That is 27 more than the Mt Erebus disaster but was the lowest road toll since 1952. Alongside that there were thousands of people seriously injured, yet there is no public outcry.
There is certainly grief for the thousands of people who lose a partner, child, parent or friend each year, but most people just accept this as an unpleasant fact of life. It isn't. There are many proven ways we can make our roads safer if we take the action needed to do so.
Individually we all have the ability to reduce our risks of being in a crash with the choices we make behind the wheel every day. Do you use your cellphone when you're driving? Do you keep a two-second following distance? Do you know the safety rating of your car? Do you ever drive when you are tired? Do you stick to the speed limit? Do you drive after drinking or taking drugs?
These seemingly small decisions, multiplied by millions of drivers daily, make a huge difference to our road toll.
No matter how good a driver is, though, people will make mistakes and this is why improving the safety of the roads we drive on is just as important. The AA is calling for $150 million more to be spent each year on making physical changes to our roads such as installing more median barriers, removing roadside hazards like power poles and ditches and improving road markings. It has been estimated that if we did this for 10 years, by the end of that period we would be saving 80 to 90 lives on our roads each year.
We have two outstanding examples of what can be achieved from improvements to centennial highway north of Wellington and the Rangiriri section of the Waikato Expressway.
There had been many deaths on both these roads but since median barriers were installed there has not been a single fatality.
Although most drivers will never be involved in a fatal or serious injury crash, we are all affected. The crashes on our roads cost the country an estimated $3.54 billion in 2010.
Putting aside the emotional and financial costs to the affected families, they suck up police and emergency services' time, fill our hospitals, and add to ACC and welfare costs. What other uses could that money be put to? How much better could our society be if that bill was halved?
In comparison to the savings, the AA's call for road safety investment is small indeed.
We now have nine years left in our decade of action and the first step to enduring change is for all of us to recognise that deaths and injuries on our roads are not inevitable.
We need to stop accepting these and demand that, as a country, we make the necessary investment to make a dramatic difference and, as individuals, we make the personal choices that will make our roads safer.

Teen drink-drive numbers falling

By Amelia Wade. NZ Herald

5:30 AM Tuesday May 15, 2012

Young people now cite the Transport Agency's 'ghost chips' television advertisement when they are trying to stop peers drinking and driving, says a safety campaigner. Photo / Supplied

The number of teenagers caught drink-driving has halved in the past five years - but some of those who are stopped are showing levels far above the adult limit.

Police figures released to the Herald show a dramatic drop in the number of under-17s caught drink-driving, from 630 in 2007 to 305 last year.

The figures follow law and policy changes - including a zero limit for drivers under 20, increasing the driving age to 16 and making the restricted licence test harder - aimed at reducing the road toll.

The national road policing manager, Superintendent Rob Morgan, said the statistics were encouraging and reflected efforts by the Government and police to stop teens driving drunk.

"All those road safety conversations are what we believe is having an impact," he said.

While the number of teenagers caught drunk behind the wheel was small compared to the number who had licences, Mr Morgan said police were still trying to reduce it further.

"It's something we would like to see at zero, that's what we're working towards."

The chief executive of Students Against Drink Driving (Sadd) , Anna Braidwood, said the figures were "really pleasing" and the reduction was significant.

"But it's still a major issue, especially for our young drivers, so it's a case of not really taking our foot off the pedal. We really want to keep up that momentum so we can keep that trend going down."

The charitable organisation's aim is to reduce road deaths and injuries from drink-driving by promoting positive behaviour change in 13- to 17-year-olds.

People under 17 are legally considered to be youths and their cases are managed by the Youth Court unless their crime is serious enough to warrant being charged as an adult.

Sadd's education programme runs in 66 per cent of secondary schools, and has been active for about 26 years.

The organisation was working towards a "perfect world vision" where no New Zealanders are caught drink-driving, Ms Braidwood said.

She believed several factors - including the Government's Safer Journeys campaign - were behind the reduction in the number of young drink-drivers caught by police.

Safer Journeys is a strategy to guide improvements in road safety.

Ms Braidwood said the hugely popular "ghost chips" anti drink-driving commercial, which started screening in November as part of the Transport Agency's Legend campaign, had also had a positive effect.

"It just took off and it really seemed to resonate with young people ... it's not going to be a silver bullet, it's not going to cure all, but it's been one of those key messages put out there and young people have retained the information.

"Ghost chips became one of the strategies they would apply if they wanted to stop their mate drink-driving."

One of the main problems was that young drivers knew the risks of driving under the influence of alcohol, but still made the decision to drive after having a few drinks.

"The majority of young people don't start the night thinking they're going to make a bad decision at the end of the night, whether that's driving drunk themselves or hopping in the car with a drunk driver.

"But what we're finding is that there's a series of bad decisions that happen after people have started drinking."

Sadd's "Plan B4 U Party" campaign was trying to get young people to make smart decisions before they start drinking so the temptation to get behind the wheel was removed.

These include arranging a designated driver who wouldn't drink, pre-arranging to be collected, or taking a taxi or other form of public transport.

BUT BINGING IS STILL A PROBELM...

Although the number of teenagers under 17 caught driving drunk is falling, the alarmingly high amount of alcohol they consume before getting behind the wheel is causing concern.

Of the 2300 teenagers caught since 2007, 12 have had more than 1000ml of alcohol in their blood - more than 12 times the legal adult limit.

The heavy-drinking teens include a 14-year-old girl who had a reading of 946ml and a 16-year-old who killed his mate.

Tina Nilson, mother of the teenager killed by the 16-year-old, says more needs to be done to stop people so young driving so drunk.

Levi Elliott, now 17, was sentenced in November to three years' jail for the manslaughter of Shaun Nilson after crashing into a tree in Hamilton and killing him.

Elliott was more than five times over the limit at the time.

"I find it horrifying, absolutely horrifying that children of that age can get behind the wheel with alcohol in their system," Mrs Elliott said.

New Zealanders aged from 15- to 17-year-olds have the highest road-death rate in the OECD, and 18- to 20-year-olds have the fourth highest.

The Automobile Association's general manager of motoring affairs, Mike Noon, said that was completely unacceptable.

"It's alarming to see how much some of these teens are blowing ... it is very dangerous to be mixing alcohol with youths because they are more impaired and are less experienced drivers," he said.

The national road policing manager, Superintendent Rob Morgan, said the high blood-alcohol figures were a reflection of New Zealand's well-documented binge-drinking culture.

"This is just more evidence of that occurring, but in these cases these people have been caught driving after binge drinking," he said.

"They're now becoming a danger to other people. When they binge drink they become a danger to themselves, but once they get behind the wheel they become a danger to not only themselves, but to their passengers and the other people on the road."

For Mrs Nilson and her family, the anniversary of Shaun's death is near, which she said brought up all the pain they felt after he died.

"For us, as a family, it's absolutely devastated us and torn us right apart."

It was time to get tough on teenagers who got behind the wheel drunk, she said.

"Shaun had a variety of mates, from all walks of life. You could tell the ones that had respect for themselves and what they wanted to do - they would never drink and drive.

"But you get the other side of life who get demerit points and think, 'Yeah, we're going to get a fine but we can pay that off, five bucks a week'."

Mrs Nilson said zero tolerance should mean that if someone was caught drink-driving their car should be taken from them instead of them being given a fine or a slap on the wrist.

"Then they'd learn straight away, as would everyone else. People would think twice."

Parents and other family members needed to be more aware of what their children were doing.

"They need to stop being their friends so much and start being parents again. That's a societal thing that needs to change."

Mrs Nilson and her family have started a petition to raise the drinking age to 20, which she believes would help curb youth drink-drivers.

"Look what the 18-year-olds are doing now compared to what 18-year-olds were doing ten or fifteen years ago, it's just out of control.

You let them have drugs off the shelf in a dairy, we let them have all this alcohol that they don't respect - they think it's their God-given right because they are 18."

Mr Noon agreed that agencies needed to continue the push to ensure the numbers of teenage drink-drivers continued to drop.

"I don't think we've solved the problem, just like we haven't solved the problem for drivers over 17. The number of drunk drivers being apprehended each year is far too high."

WORST TEEN DRIVERS 2011

Male, 16, Southland - 1118
Female, 16, Gisborne - 1097
Female, 16, Whangarei - 1020

Drink-drive limits

* 0 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood for people under 20.
* 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood for people over 20.

Penalties for under 20s

Up to three months' jail, fines of up to $2250, licence cancelled for up to three months.

Rotorua's biggest road safety issues

Anita Moran | Saturday, May 12, 2012 7:

It may officially be Road Safety Week but police say every week should be about road safety.
 The theme of the first national Road Safety Week organised by the charity Brake, with support from other organisations and the New Zealand Transport Agency  (NZTA), is "together we can save lives''.
 "For Rotorua police, every week our focus is on road safety,'' Senior Sergeant Denton Grimes said.

"Reducing the incidents of crash and road trauma is our priority.''
 The main road safety issues in Rotorua were speed, drink driving, failing to wear a seatbelt and inattention, he said. Police focused on high risk areas at high risk times.
 "Our aim is to be highly visible and to take some form of action against bad driving behaviour or drivers who fail to comply with the road rules.''
 Rotorua District Council road safety co-ordinator Jodie Lawson said between 2006 and 2010 alcohol was a factor in 28 per cent of all fatal and serious crashes and speed was a factor in 32 per cent.
 Initiatives were in place to make Rotorua roads safer and nationally young drivers were a priority, she said.
Campaigns included back-to-school awareness initiatives and young driver workshops. A Rotorua Youth Road Safety Expo is planned for the last week in November.
 Ms Lawson said the expo aimed to change attitudes and improve the choices teenagers made.
 She said while Road Safety Week was a good initiative, it was something everyone needed to get on board with.
 "Road safety is everyone's responsibility,'' Ms Lawson said.
"If everyone is willing to take extra care and think of the consequences of poor decision making, together we can make a difference.''
 New Zealand Transport Agency chief executive Stephen Town said Road Safety Week was a reminder that road safety was everyone's concern and that everyone could do something to help save lives and prevent injuries on the road.
 "That's a message wholeheartedly supported by the New Zealand Transport Agency through our work to create a safe transport system in New Zealand that is increasingly free of deaths and serious injuries.''

One year into the Decade of Action for Road Safety

Voxy, Friday, 11 May, 2012 - 10:20

One year into the Decade of Action for Road Safety, there is still much to be done to reduce the rate of death and injury on our roads says Associate Transport Minister Simon Bridges.
"Last year, New Zealand was the first country in the world to mark the United Nations and World Health Organisation's call on May 11 for a Decade of Action for Road Safety. We have made great strides in reducing deaths on our roads but we still rank below many other developed countries and there is more we can do," says Mr Bridges.
New Zealand released its Safer Journeys Action Plan 2011/12 on May 11 last year. The plan builds on the government's Safer Journeys Road Safety Strategy 2010 to 2020 and is an across-the-board approach to road safety, looking at all aspects of the road system.
"Since the Decade of Action was launched, we have continued to take steps through our Safer Journeys strategy. We have changed give way rules, lowered alcohol limits for young drivers, launched targeted education for young drivers on the issues of speed and drink driving, strengthened driver licence tests and progressed work on building safer roads.
"We will continue this progress throughout the decade, with Safer Journeys setting actions to 2020.
"There are also steps all New Zealanders can take, like using common sense and caution on the roads, driving to the conditions and making safety a priority when purchasing a vehicle."