The Tasmanian Liberal Government is working hard to ensure all learner drivers have the support they need to obtain their driver’s licence.
A replacement new car with a 5-star ANCAP safety rating has been presented to the Migrant Resource Centre in Launceston for their Learner Driver Mentor Program.
This program assists learner drivers without access to a suitable vehicle and/or supervisory driver to gain the on-road driving supervision and experience needed to achieve a provisional licence by matching them with a volunteer mentor.
Learners in these programs have no other options to gain the on-road hours required to obtain a provisional licence.
Obtaining a licence opens opportunities for people to access employment, education and training, and services in their communities. This program is supporting disadvantaged Tasmanians to do this.
In the last year alone the Migrant Resource Centre’s ‘Drive 4 Life’ program provided more than 1,600 learning hours behind the wheel for the local community.
Of course, that much use means the cars do tend to get some wear and tear, and sometimes worse.
Unfortunately one of the centre’s two cars was involved in a crash earlier this year so they have been trying to help the same number of people with just one vehicle.
So it’s fantastic that we are able to present them with this new car to help more people become mobile.
With the support of Mazda Dealership in Hobart we have provided a new Mazda 2 to the Migrant Resource Centre’s ‘Drive 4 Life’ program in Launceston.
Aside from crashes, the program regularly replaces LDMP vehicles round the state with newer, safer and more fuel-efficient models.
Over the past three years we have now replaced 14 cars across the program state-wide.
**16 Learner Driver Mentor Programs currently operate across Tasmania helping an average of 254 learners who are supported by 178 volunteer mentors each month. In 2021–22, 191 people received their provisional licence after participating in the program and over 20,000 on-road hours were achieved despite impacts from COVID-19.
