Graduated driver licensing in South Australia

Abstract

Graduated driver licensing (GDL) is a method of licensing novice drivers commonly implemented in response to the over-involvement of young drivers in crashes. The literature on graduated driver licensing suggests that it is an effective method by which the crash rates of young, inexperienced drivers may be reduced. Positive preliminary results in Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada show that allowing young drivers to obtain experience in low risk driving conditions and delaying full, unrestricted licensure leads to fewer crashes. Although there is a possibility that the main sources of these countries' crash reductions are coincidental reductions in exposure, it is nonetheless apparent that graduated driver licensing programs can save lives and reduce injuries suffered by young drivers and passengers in road trauma. Attitudinal surveys have also revealed widespread support for the restrictions on young drivers that are incorporated into the schemes. The quantitative analysis of trends in crash fatalities and serious injuries suggests that there were reductions over the ten-year period 1983 to 1992 for young drivers relative to older drivers in South Australia. It also seems there were reductions in fatalities over this period compared with Victoria. The introduction of zero blood alcohol concentration (BAG) for probationary licence holders in 1985, as a component of the licensing system along with GDL and other factors, could have been responsible for the decline. At the end of the period under study, the serious injury rate per 100,000 population of young drivers in South Australia was still high relative to older drivers, but the young driver fatality rate was comparable with that of older drivers. On a distance travelled basis, young drivers remain a high-risk group.