I rest my case.

Young drivers caught in review headlights
30 September 2006
By KIM THOMAS

The Government is considering toughening the rules for young drivers as a new report shows a high number are dying on our roads. An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report published yesterday said road crashes were the biggest killer of 15 to 24-year-olds in industrialised countries, and it urged governments to address the problem.

The Young Drivers: Road to Safety report suggests young drivers spend more supervised time on the road before receiving their graduated licence, and recommends reducing blood-alcohol limits. It also suggests more rigorous enforcement of rules, particularly for young men, who are three times more likely to be killed in a crash than young female drivers.

Transport Minister Annette King said the Government was concerned about high numbers of road deaths involving youngsters, and had consulted the public on ways to address the problem over recent months.

A graduated driver's licence and lowered blood-alcohol levels for young people were some of the options being debated, King said. Law changes could be under way by the middle of next year. Policy proposals are due to be drawn up by the end of this month, according to a Ministry of Transport timetable on the legislation.

Cantabrian Jordan Mason is one of the young drivers the Government hopes to target. Mason, 22, has spent time in prison for putting a man in a coma after a drag race in central Christchurch in 2002. He has been disqualified from driving for more than four years of the five that he has held a licence.

Mason, he said, he was an inexperienced and cocky driver of 18, with three periods of disqualification under his belt, when his reckless driving landed him in prison. "I reckon they should put up the driving age to about 17 or 18. Fifteen is just stupid in my book because you just don't think about driving or have the experience to be out there in these high-performance cars."

Mason hoped the Government would implement harsher rules for people who flouted driving laws, although he ignored his many disqualifications. He also favoured mandatory driving hours with an experienced, older driver as peer pressure played a part in encouraging his irresponsible behaviour.

"My mate asked me to drive his car on that day (of his 2002 accident) because he said I was better at speeds. I was full of adrenalin and when there's people in the car, I couldn't say no," he said.

-The Press