How parents can cut teen toll

Nearly 24 per cent of parents are happy for their teen to apply for a restricted licence with as little as 40 hours of supervised practise. Photo / Thinkstock

New Zealand has the highest road death rate in the OECD for 15- to 17-year-olds, and the fourth-highest road death rate for 18- to 20-year-olds.

These alarming statistics are from a NZ Transport Agency survey, done as part of the Safe Teen Driver campaign (www.safeteendriver.co.nz) to improve the poor road safety record of teenage drivers.

It showed that many parents are happy to turn their teens loose on the road without enough supervised driving practise.

While international research recommends that teen drivers have at least 120 hours of supervised driving before going solo, the survey shows that only 12 per cent of New Zealand parents know that their teens should have that much practise before applying for a restricted licence.

And nearly 24 per cent of parents are happy for their teen to apply for a restricted licence with as little as 40 hours of supervised practise - one-third of the recommended minimum.

It showed that while parents are keen to help their teen pass their restricted test, few are keen on committing to the recommended amount of practise and supervision.

"Road crashes are the single biggest killer of 15- to 19-year-old New Zealanders, and we need parents to stay involved when their teenagers are learning to drive to help prepare them for the responsibility of solo driving," said NZTA chief Geoff Dangerfield.

"One hundred and twenty hours is the recommended time teenagers should spend in a supervised car to help gain experience and confidence, but our research shows this isn't happening in some cases."

As part of the Government's Safer Journeys strategy, the NZTA is working on changes to toughen the restricted licence on-road driving test to encourage 120 hours of supervised driving in the learner licence stage.

The new tests are likely to be implemented in February.

The Safe Teen Driver campaign was started in June to help raise awareness of the risks teen drivers face and to give parents some tools to help them take an active role in addressing the problem.

"The good news from our survey is that 89 per cent of parents want to stay involved until their teenager passes their restricted test," said Dangerfield. "But the same parents are happy for their teenagers to apply for their restricted with only half the amount of recommended practise."