United Future

Posted at 2007-09-18 21:39:36.909. Permalink.

As a potential NZer, driver and father, I am astonished at the young age children can take control of a potentially lethal machine in NZ. I do not know enough about the driving in NZ to criticize, but from an interested outside perspective, gaining my knowledge from NZ press reports and reality TV, I would forward the following observation. The carnage on NZ roads is frightening to see and read about, made more so by the continuous deaths and injuries of young people. 15 year olds are children. Teenagers in general feel immortal, they enjoy taking risks, they show off, and are not always responsible. I know this can go for adults too, but we�re talking about young drivers now. Why do I see so many powerful (fast) cars being driven by youngsters in NZ, these are not necessary for travel. If it�s ok for youngsters to drive, why are there so many restrictions on their licence? The attitude to drink driving in NZ, seems to be the same as it was here, 30 years ago. A tut-tut, shouldn�t really drink and drive, don�t do it again, instead of dealing with it as a serious crime, that often results in fatalities for other people. A small fine and 24 weeks inconvenience of not driving, tells offenders it�s not all that serious. With the drinking culture prevalent as it is, youngsters want to drink, they also want to drive. We have young driver problems here in UK, and they can�t get behind a wheel until over 17. There is a toughening up of the test to obtain a licence, and talk of increasing the age limit to 18. All the excuses from politicians unprepared to tackle this topic don�t wash. Age certainly does make a difference in driving, at both ends of the age spectrum. Nonsense about rural living and convenience for young drivers, taking precedence over fatalities and injuries, and associated costs in traffic chaos and police time, is not acceptable. I fully support the rise in age limit, but hope it is just the start of measures to decrease the appalling road deaths and injuries.

Posted at 2007-09-19 15:03:36.418. Permalink.

I think leaving the driving age at the current level is morally unacceptable. Will this effect people in rural areas who may rely on cars and not have the luxury of public transport.. probably, yes - but transporting people under the driving age should be the responsibility of family and friends, as it was when I grew up. Will this mean that workers are stranded without transport late at night? Again, taking people to and from work should be the responsibility of family and friends, co-workers and employers. That said, we should be looking at this reform in the context of supplying more and better public transport and in the context of encouraging walking and bicycle use which has obvious crossover benefits.
I have also raised the issue of compulsory insurance a number of times. In the UK young drivers are discouraged from driving fast and modified cars because they either can't get insurance for them, or the insurance is prohibitively expensive. I learned to drive in a 950cc car, as did many of my friends and the inevitable prangs that ensued from inexperience were relatively minor as a result.