Michael Ferguson,Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
A new campaign designed to educate young drivers, their parents or guardians, and other road users about important changes to getting a licence will begin today.
The new campaign, Plates Plus: Safer driving for life, has been launched to highlight that the changes are about more than just getting your L and P plates, they’ll also enable new drivers to develop the lifelong knowledge and skills they need to ensure they, and the Tasmanian community, are safer on the road.
The changes, which come into effect on 1 December, will improve the road safety of our new drivers, streamline the process of getting a licence and save up to $114 per driver. Plus, those who complete their full provisional stage offence-free will be rewarded with a full three-year licence for free, worth a further $75.
There are seven key elements to the new Plates Plus young driver safety campaign, all aligned with the specific safety enhancements being made to the licencing system. These include:
- 80 mandatory logbook hours for L drivers, including 15 at night. To help get the 80 hours in the learner stage, drivers will be able to:
- Attend a Rotary Youth Driver Awareness (RYDA) program and gain five hours for the learner logbook;
- Get a one-hour lesson with a certified driving instructor and gain two hours for the learner logbook. This is capped at 10 lessons (totalling up to 20 hours’ credit); and
- Get a free Keys2drive lesson funded by the Federal Government, plus a second free lesson funded by the Tasmanian Government.
- A single licence card for learner and provisional licence periods.
- New maximum speed limits of 90km/h for learners and 100km/h for P1 holders.
- A total ban on mobile phone use, including hands-free, for all learners and P1s.
- P1 drivers under 25 can carry no more than one peer passenger.
- New green P plates for P2 licence holders.
- The new Safer Driver Reward.
The improvements to the licensing system also includes the removal of the L2 licence stage, creating a single learner licence period, and the introduction of a new online Hazard Perception Test to progress from learner to P1. Transitional arrangements have been developed for those already in the licensing pathway, with the aim of getting the balance right between maximising the potential road safety benefits and minimising rule changes for those who have already commenced or progressed through the existing system.
The awareness campaign will run across television, radio and digital channels, as well as in print over the next six weeks.
