P-plater project to help young drivers stay alive
October 19, 2011
More than 25,000 Victorian P-plate drivers are being recruited for a new project to stop young drivers dying on the state’s roads.
The $10 million ”P Drivers Project” aims to have approximately half of Victoria’s P-platers complete the 15-month program, which the Baillieu government said was the largest of its type in the world.
Young drivers were three times more likely to be involved in casualty-causing crashes than experienced drivers.
VicRoads director of road user safety James Holgate said learners who had done 120 hours had good control of a car but from the moment they started driving solo they went from being among the safest drivers to the most risky.
”Their skills don’t change, what changes is their attitude. The P-drivers project is not focusing on improving skills, it is focusing on attitudes and behaviours,” he said.
The program will see the P-platers complete an online assessment of their driving to assess risks, group discussions with similarly aged drivers, an individual on-the-road coaching session and then monitoring driver performance.
The first results will be available in 2014.
The program is jointly funded by the state and federal governments and the car industry, with young drivers to be offered incentives to participate including movie tickets, bowling passes and the chance to win a car in return for their involvement.
Transport Minister Terry Mulder said the research would help understand why young drivers were over-represented in road accidents.
