CRACKDOWN ON P-PLATERS

CRACKDOWN NETS P-PLATERS  (NEWS)

(Sunday Telegraph 3^rd April 2011) By: Briana Momjen.

The number of young drivers stripped of their licence for speeding, drink-driving and reckless behaviour behind the wheel has sky-rocketed in the past five years.

NSW Police, ruthless in their crackdown on irresponsible drivers, suspended 36,200 P-Plater licences in the 2010 financial year, up from 20,400 in 2005.

The number of P-Platers disqualified for drink driving has increased from 3300 in 2005 to 4100 last year. Assistant Police Commissioner John Hartley, said new measures and a crackdown on reckless P-Plate driver behaviour was responsible for the increase in suspensions.

We have seen stricter and more offences created since 2006-2007, he said.

Police are also targeting the types of behaviour attributed to younger drivers, speeding, racing, burnouts and, of course, we now have zero alcohol for P-Platers.

Mr Hartley said NSW Police would continue to curb out-of-control behaviour until P-Platers get the message.

We have cracked down, he said. We’re targeting P-Plate drivers doing the wrong thing.

We need to maintain pressure on young drivers to do the right thing and encourage them to drive properly.

Pedestrian Council of Australia chairman Harold Scruby said the massive increase in licence suspensions was driven by zero tolerance policy laws introduced in 2005.

It’s logical a lot more P-Platers are losing their licence, he said.

Although experts agree more needs to be done to curb speeding, drink driving and other offences, Mr Scruby said the age teenagers are allowed to drive needs to be raised.

In NSW you can drive Australia’s most lethal weapon at 17, he said. Why should children be put in charge of vehicles on their own? We want the Victorian system: we want the age for first P-Plate licences moved to 18.

The new State Deputy leader, Andrew Stoner, said the Coalition’s Safer Drivers skills course would help ensure young drivers understood their limited skills and inexperience.

Too many young drivers are injured or killed on our roads, he said. We all introduce the practical one-day skills training course for learner drivers and commit $1 million to fund the Youth and Road Trauma Forum.

Office of State Revenue figures show so far this financial year provisional licence holders received 37,877 fines worth $9.55 million, of which 6608 fines – worth $2.62 million – related to speeding.

In 2009-10, 50,945 fines worth $12.66 million were issued to provisional licence holders, 9952 of them – worth $3.76 million – for speeding.

There are 386,117 P-Plate drivers in NSW.