Knowledge about the incidence and character of unlicensed driving in Australia is somewhat scanty, but unlicensed motorists feature prominently in Australia's road crash statistics. Best known are those unlicensed motorists who drive or ride whilst disqualified, most notably recidivist drink drivers. Less well-researched are those motorists who drive or ride without ever having obtained a driver's or rider's licence for the type of vehicle used. This paper uses Federal Office of Road Safety mass data to examine the demographic characteristics and road behaviour of never-licensed motorists involved in fatal road crashes in Australia. Never-licensed drivers featured significantly more commonly in fatal crashes occurring in the Northern Territory and in remote rural regions than in fatal crashes elsewhere. Never-licensed riders were commonplace in fatal motor cycle crashes in all jurisdictions and in all regions other than remote rural regions. The young, students and the unemployed were those most likely to involve themselves as never-licensed motorists in fatal crashes. The crashes were characterised by irresponsible road behaviour and elevated levels of crash fault on the part of the never-licensed motorists. (A) For the covering entry of this conference, please see IRRD abstract No. 492019.
Abstract