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- 2 March 2005
P-plate Drivers
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Page: 14515
Mr STEVE CANSDELL (Clarence) [5.12 p.m.]: "P-plate driver crash toll grows" and "Two more young lives lost". These headlines tear at the heart of every person in New South Wales. With the ongoing carnage on our roads and the needless loss of life or serious injury to young people from car accidents, we, as leaders, must be prepared to look at all available options to try to curb these tragedies, which have a major impost on many families. Our worst nightmare would be to have a knock on the door at 2.00 a.m. and a police officer say, "I'm sorry. Your daughter has been involved in a fatal accident." This happens far too often. In 2004, 126 young people aged between 17 years and 25 years were killed needlessly on our roads, and literally thousands were injured, many with permanent disabilities.
Young people are more mobile than at any time in the past. More young people own or drive motor vehicles. This has brought opportunities and more freedom, but it brings much more risk. Over the past 25 years the New South Wales road toll has been reduced: from 1,300 in 1978 to 539 in 2003. Despite this reduction, young people continue to be overrepresented in crash statistics. There is broad agreement amongst governments, licensing authorities and young people themselves that more needs to be done to reduce loss of life and injury to young people on the roads.
The State Government, the NRMA, the Roads and Traffic Authority, the Motor Accidents Authority, the Staysafe committee and even the media have called for various options. They include curfews for P-plate drivers, restrictions on engine capacity of vehicles driven by P-plate drivers, limits on the numbers of passengers, advanced driving courses, extension of provisional licences, and so on. There is merit in part in all these options, but other options are available too. A local information technology company at Grafton, Fleet Logistics Pty Ltd, develops and installs GPS tracking systems in heavy vehicles because it has seen the need to extend the technology. The managing director, Ric Firth, has children of his own and has adapted the best system for a motor vehicle tracking device to help reduce accidents and deaths involving young people.
Put simply, once installed in the vehicle, the GPS tracking system allows parents to view reports on the Internet. Reports cover all aspects of vehicle use, including an accurate speeding report. Parents can fit the device to cars that their sons or daughters drive. Young drivers, knowing their parents can recap the complete trip and view data on speeding, heavy braking and poor turning manoeuvres, will more than likely do the right thing and drive in a safe manner for fear of being grounded. Ultimately, this will lead to fewer accidents.
The owner of the vehicle also has the added benefit of tracking, disabling and recovering the vehicle should it be stolen. The system is affordable and will give parents the opportunity to help ensure that their children return home safely. Restricting the types of vehicles, extending provisional licence terms, limiting the numbers of passengers, and instituting curfews all have benefits but are difficult to police. By contrast, if young drivers know that their driving is being monitored, they will drive more responsibly. I accept that not all parents have access to the Internet but those who do should have the opportunity to try to ensure the safety of their children.
In closing, I refer to Sergeant Peter Jenkins of the police crash investigation unit, whose job is to sift through wreckages in fatal accidents and find out what happened and who is to blame. As he says, an accident may be the result of speeding in harsh conditions, risk taking or momentary distraction, but in 99.9 per cent of cases someone is to blame. We must do everything possible to ensure that young drivers refrain from behaving stupidly and taking risks.
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