Government knocks down driving age review

Teenage drivers are involved in almost 15 per cent of crashes which leave someone dead or seriously injured - but the Ministry of Transport says there are no plans to review the driving age.

The Herald has been flooded with letters, most calling for lifting the age people are allowed to start driving.

It comes after Dr Robert Isler, a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Waikato, said the frontal lobes of a 15-year-old's brain were not developed enough to acquire the judgment skills to drive safely.

Figures from the Ministry of Transport show that 15 to 19-year-old drivers were involved in 2540 crashes last year, 83 of which were fatal. Between 2003 and 2005, they were involved in 15 per cent of all crashes causing serious injury or death.

They were also over-represented in the number of crashes occurring on weekends. Fifty-eight per cent of fatal crashes on Friday nights and 47 per cent of those on Saturday nights involved young drivers last year.

AA Driver Education Foundation chief executive Peter Sheppard said the period of supervised driving for teenage learners needed to be increased, which would subsequently raise the age for restricted and full licence-holders to 16 or over.

But Federated Farmers transport spokesman Andrew Gillanders said the organisation would oppose "with vigour" moves to raise the driving age.

The families of teenagers attending schools some distance away, or who had to travel to part-time jobs, would be disadvantaged by raising the age.

The ministry figures also show speed and alcohol are major factors in youth crashes, with teenagers 2 1/2 times more likely to crash because of speeding than drivers over the age of 25.

Dr Isler said he believed that 17 was a more suitable age to learn to drive. In most Australian states, and in many European countries, that is the minimum age for being able to drive alone.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport said the department was aware of Dr Isler's comments, but there were no specific recommendations to change the driving age.