Young Driver Research Program: Evaluation of the Australian Graduated Licensing Scheme

Federal Office of Road Safety - Contract Report 136

Abstract:

A graduated licensing scheme was one of the elements of the 1 0-point road safety package announced by the then Prime Minister in December 1989 as part of the Federal Government's Road Safety Initiative, for adoption by States and Territories. The evaluation approach reported here comprised:

documentation of changes and the current position in the jurisdictions regarding regulations for novice drivers
a review of studies of the effects of components of Graduated Licensing Schemes
a review of studies of community and young driver attitudes to graduated licensing
a major survey of young driver knowledge, attitudes, compliance and perceptions and social costs associated with the components of graduated licensing

Executive Summary

The Monash University Accident Research Centre was commissioned by the Federal Office of Road Safety to undertake the Young Driver Research Program as part of the Federal Government's Road Safety Initiative. The Program included:

young driver/passenger research
analysis of young driver crashes
evaluation of graduated licensing.

A graduated licensing scheme was one of the elements of the 10-point road safety package announced by the then Prime Minister in December 1989 as part of the Federal Government's Road Safety Initiative, for adoption by States and Territories. The components of the Graduated Licensing Scheme were:

zero blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for learner drivers
zero BAC for the first three years after obtaining a non-learners licence up to 25 years of age
no learner permits to be issued before 16 years of age
no probationary licence to be issued before 17 years of age
the minimum period for a learner permit to be 6 months
licences issued for automatic vehicles are to apply for the probationary period unless a manual test is undertaken or other requirements, specified by the State or Territory, are met.

This report commences with a discussion of the concept of graduated licensing. Experiences with graduated licensing schemes in the United States, Canada and New Zealand are outlined. The next section describes Australian proposals for graduated licensing schemes, in particular the proposals by the Federal Office of Road Safety and the Department of Transport in South Australia.

The differences between states in the tinting and implementation of specific elements of graduated licensing meant that a combined, quantitative evaluation was not feasible. As a result of these difficulties, it was decided that the evaluation should comprise:

documentation of changes and the current position in the jurisdictions regarding regulations for novice drivers (Chapter 6)
a review of previous studies of the effects of components of Graduated Licensing Schemes (Chapter 7)
a review of previous studies of community and young driver attitudes to graduated licensing (Chapter 8)
a major survey of young driver knowledge, attitudes, compliance and perceptions and social costs associated with the components of graduated licensing (Chapter 9)

Graduated licensing survey

People aged under 25 who had obtained their driving licence within the previous live years were surveyed. The survey showed:

that the actual effect of minimum ages and durations for learner permits and first licences is modified by the relationships between these components. For example, allowing a low minimum age for the learner permit will not encourage many drivers to obtain it at that age if the minimum age for obtaining a first licence is high. Thus, a minimum duration for which the learners permit must be held does much more to ensure that a minimum amount of experience is gained before licensing than solely allowing a low minimum age for the learners permit and a high minimum age for the first licence.

that the effectiveness of the zero BAC restriction may be limited. Knowledge of the restriction, as measured by reporting it as a restriction, was surprisingly low in Western Australia and New South Wales. About 15% of drivers had failed to comply with the restriction, including about double this percentage in Western Australia. Almost three-quarters of drivers thought they could avoid breath testing by avoiding major roads. Most drivers identified social costs of the restriction but 91.4% agreed with it.
no strong relationship between enforcement and compliance. Levels of enforcement (as reported by drivers) were no lower in Western Australia where the rate of non-compliance was much higher. Experience of being breath tested did not appear to increase estimates of the risk of being caught drink driving (if someone had been drinking).
that restricting drivers who obtained their licence in an automatic vehicle to only driving automatic vehicles during their first licence had two effects: discouraging some drivers from obtaining their licence in an automatic vehicle (fewer drivers gained licences in automatic vehicles in States where the rule applies) and preventing drivers who had an "automatic licence" from driving cars belonging to others. The road safety implications of these effects are unclear.

It was concluded that current novice driver licensing systems in Australia generally fail to conform to the concept of graduated licensing. Many of the components serve to reduce exposure, rather than to increase exposure (and thus experience) in a safer driving environment. In the Federal graduated licensing scheme, it is only the components relating to zero BAC and, perhaps the restriction to driving an automatic vehicle, which change the quality of exposure. The increases in licensing age and duration of the learners permit are likely to have as their major result a reduction in the amount of exposure (number of licences on issue and perhaps distance driven).

In addition to exposure reduction, motivation and learning were noted as important ways in which a graduated licensing scheme could contribute to reduction of crash risk by McKnight (1992). Motivation to drive safely can be increased by making removal of restrictions and imposition of sanctions both dependent on driving record. In contrast, time-related restrictions are not expected to have the same motivating effect. Most of the restrictions in current driver licensing systems in Australia arc time-related, however. The removal of restrictions is dependent on driving record only to the extent that if the licence is withdrawn due to the accumulation of a critical number of demerit points, the total period for which the restrictions apply is increased.

It was concluded that the adequacy of legislation and enforcement is a major factor affecting the likely success of graduated licensing. To ensure adequate compliance with restrictions, the measures required are compulsory carriage of photographic licences, better enforcement of displaying of P-plates and substantial penalties for driving contrary to the provisions of the licence.

A number of possible disbenefits of graduated licensing schemes were identified. If experience is necessary for the development of the ability to drive safely but the effect of graduated licensing is to reduce experience, then the scheme may retard improvement in driving performance. In addition, young drivers may take steps to avoid detection when driving contrary to the provisions of the licence. Lastly, reduction of mobility is a possible disbenefit of graduated licensing schemes.

The Evaluation of Graduated Licensing was integrated with the addressing of the issue of exposure, in particular the issue of the Young Driver Problem versus the Young Problem Driver. Other reports in this series examine the amount and nature of young driver exposure and investigate whether these characteristics are reflected in crash frequencies and rates.