ALLOWING 17-year-olds to drive on a restricted licence has been proposed by Vote1 Local Jobs in order to combat the region’s youth jobless rate.
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As the state election campaign enters its final week, Vote1 Local Jobs leader James Purcell said driver licence reform was needed for young south-west workers.
Mr Purcell said while Melbourne teenagers were able to easily access public transport, their south-west counterparts were left stranded due to the present age benchmark.
He said the move would be particularly helpful for apprentices but also for high school students working part-time jobs on weekends.
“Practical measures like this are the only way we can address our high youth unemployment rate,” Mr Purcell told The Standard.
“Introducing a restricted licence would allow apprentices the freedom to travel from home to work and back again. There’s also plenty of high school kids that have a part-time job who have to rely on their parents to drop them off and pick them up.
“We want to maintain the excellent safety precautions we already have in place for 18-year-olds, it’s just a case of extending those conditions to 17-year-olds as well.”
The minimum driving age is 18 years in Victoria for probationary licence holders compared to 17 years in every other state and territory.
Probationary driving conditions were first implemented by the Bolte government in the early 1970s under the “Declare war on 1034” initiative but further regulations have been rolled out during the past decade. The Brumby government split probationary licences into two categories from July 2008, with red P-platers usually aged between 18 and 19 years of age and green P-platers generally aged between 19 and 22 years before a full licence is issued.
Red P-platers have a peer passenger restriction, which means they are only able to carry one passenger aged between 16 and 21 years old, with some exemptions.
Under the proposal, Mr Purcell said the restricted licence would only be offered to 17-year-olds who could prove they were either in full-time or part-time employment.
He discussed the issue yesterday with Warrnambool teenager Liam Shanahan and his mother Renae. The 17-year-old said it was difficult for people in his age group to attend part-time work with many relying on their parents.
“If all the other states except Victoria allow you to drive on P-plates, then it makes sense to reduce (probationary licences) to 17 years,” Liam said.
Reform of probationary licences has been in the spotlight during the election campaign with Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews pledging to introduce defensive driving classes to all year 10 students if elected.
State Transport Minister Terry Mulder rolled back the blanket ban on P-platers driving high-powered cars in July, a rule which had been in place for seven years.