Victoria has one of the safest road transport systems nationally and world-wide. However, despite recent Victorian reductions in the road toll, young drivers aged 18-25 years continue to be over-represented in road crashes more than any other group of drivers on the road. Probationary drivers are involved in crashes at triple the rate of experienced drivers. One third of the road toll results from crashes involving drivers aged 18 – 25 years, with approximately 120 people killed, 2,300 seriously injured and nearly 10,000 people are injured in total in these crashes each year, costing the community over $1 billion in road trauma. Newly licensed first year probationary drivers have the highest risk. The young driver problem is consistent interstate and internationally. Available international evidence indicates that the most effective way to reduce young driver related casualty crashes is to ensure that a significant amount of supervised driving experience is gained by learner drivers and to prohibit novice drivers from driving in high risk situations. The graduated licensing approach eases young drivers into the full range of driving conditions once they have gained some experience in lower risk conditions and maturity increases. Although elements vary, all Australian states and the ACT currently have or will introduce new graduated licensing systems as a key initiative to address young driver safety. (Author/publisher)
Abstract