Farmers reject push for lift in driving age

The Government is looking at raising the driving age to 17 and tightening alcohol limits for young drivers.

Raising the national driving age to 17 would have an adverse effect on rural families, says a farmers lobby group opposed to the move.

High country farmer and Federated Farmers transport spokesman, Donald Aubrey said kids growing up on farms are exposed to vehicles from an early age. Given the shortage of public transport in the provinces, lifting the driving age would have a detrimental effect.

"It often starts off on four-wheel drive motorbikes, shutting gates for Dad," Mr Aubrey said.

He said changing the age of drivers will not necessary help the accident rate because it is about skills, not age.

"I recognise that there is an aspect to do with human development when a person is mature enough and physically responsible enough to cater for these changes, so you can't have an age so low that a person's development does not meet the skill set required," Mr Aubrey said.

Raising the driving age from 15 to 17 and a further tightening of alcohol limits are two of the ideas to improve road safety the Government has put forward for public consultation today.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce released the "Safer Journeys" discussion document which puts forward more than 60 suggestions of changes to laws, regulations and policies to reduce the road toll.

There is currently a bill before Parliament to raise the age to 16 and to extend the learner licence period from six months to 12 months.

Another idea is to reduce the legal blood alcohol limit from 80mg per 100ml to 50mg per 100ml, or alternatively leave the limit at 80mg and increase the penalties.

There could also be a zero blood alcohol limit for those under 20 years of age and recidivist offenders.

Mr Aubrey said Federated Farmers would support a system to develop driving skills for young rural people.

"But we're not too keen on a change. Having said that, we are well aware of the feedback from the wider community," he said.

Proposals to reduce speed include more speed cameras, tougher penalties and more varied speed zones on high risk rural roads, as well as lower speed limits in urban areas.

Mr Joyce said it was not his intention to implement all the ideas.

"The purpose of this review is to have a public debate about which are the most likely to make an impact and the most necessary to adopt," Mr Joyce said.

Meanwhile the Automobile Association is calling for more formal training of younger drivers and tougher tests.

AA spokesman Mike Noon said the time drivers spend on a learner's licence should be extended to 12 moths.

He said young drivers would benefit from more supervision and should preferably have 120 hours behind the wheel driving under supervision before they go solo.

Mr Noon said the AA would also like to see more hazard detections in the full-liscence test.

He said drivers would also benefit from professional driver training.

When asked if that was a conflict of interest for the AA to be making that call, given that they were involved in driver training, Mr Noon said he was involved in advocacy, not the commercial side of the AA.

Public consultation on the national driving age closes on October 2.

- with NZPA