Driving age of 18 makes perfect sense

Opinion

To the surprise of the Government no doubt, fully 80 per cent of a rather large survey, 2300 people, want the legal diving age raised to at least 18. This is a more drastic step than the Transport Ministry has contemplated in a road safety discussion paper, which proposed raising the age from 15 to 17, and the result should give Transport Minister Steven Joyce food for thought.

There is now no doubt that public opinion accepts the need to raise the age from 15, the lowest in the developed world, which is a relic of a largely rural society when children were driving farm vehicles by that age and it was convenient to let them use the quiet country roads. There is still rural opposition to raising the age and the Transport Minister might have had in mind when releasing the discussion paper that an increase to 16 might be an accepted compromise.

If so, public opinion is well ahead of him. Four out of five want 18, and they do not mean 16 or 17 with a restricted or probationary period that would delay a full licence to 18. The Herald-Nielsen survey asked their preferred minimum age and 74 per cent said 18. Another 6.5 per cent nominated 20.

This may be a reaction to the "boy racer" nuisance in recent years or the visual and auditory assaults of cars full of young people with turbo-charged sound systems. But there are better reasons for delaying driving until at least 18. The ministry paper says the area of the human brain associated with assessing risk and controlling impulse is not fully developed until people are in their 20s.

The higher minimum driving age would be felt most acutely these days in senior levels of secondary school. A minimum age of 18 would clear school carparks and reduce traffic on urban roads in the way that is always noticeable in school holidays. Rural pupils might miss their cars more than those in towns, where public transport is readily available, but district high schools can contract bus services. There need be no exceptions to a national driving age.

The strongest argument against raising the age has come from the Automobile Association which asserts that the first six months of driving solo presents danger at any age. "Raising the age is just going to kill them later," said the AA's spokesman, Simon Lambourne. The association recommends 120 hours tuition before anyone drives unsupervised.

The Government may heed that view, setting a mandatory tuition period and a minimum age at which tuition can begin, rather than a minimum age for a full licence. But it could do better in the climate of public opinion our survey has found. It could raise the minimum age for a full licence to 18 with a prerequisite tuition period and not concern itself with the age at which tuition begins. The AA says supervised learners are the safest drivers on the roads.

It is not until a person is alone behind the wheel that their age matters. Drivers aged 15-24 were involved in 37 per cent of all crashes causing death or serious injury in the latest recorded year. Many of those killed were young passengers in cars driven by their peers.

This is shaping up to be a retrograde year for the liberties of teenagers. The minimum purchasing age for alcohol is one of the liquor regulations under review by the Law Commission and the age is likely to be raised from 18 to 20 for off-licence supplies. If the driving age is also raised by two or three years their lives will seem more restricted.

But common sense says 18 is soon enough to be entrusted with a motor vehicle. That is the age of transition from school to work or tertiary education, the point at which the first important life judgments are made and individual mobility is needed. The common sense of 80 per cent of voters says the Government should be bolder.