Smart move ahead

AN important shot has been fired in the war against unnecessary deaths on our roads.

The TAC launched its Towards Zero campaign almost three years ago to educate drivers with the ultimate aim of achieving zero road deaths or serious injuries.

In that time there have been numerous advertising campaigns and several infrastructure upgrades to keep road safety at the forefront of people’s minds and to improve the conditions of some of our busiest roads.

But one obvious area of concern is finally being addressed with the announcement of Road Smart — a new program giving local teenagers driving lessons during school hours.

Young drivers are statistically most at risk of road death or serious injury — it is the reason learner drivers now have to prove they have had 120 hours of road experience before they can get their probationary licence, and why recently licensed drivers have restrictions on how many peer passengers they can legally carry.

In Geelong alone, nine people aged 16-25 have been killed on our roads over the past five years, while more than 270 young people were seriously injured.

We all know that the best precursor to road awareness is experience, and while forcing learners to complete 120 hours is helpful, there’s no quality control over what those 120 hours contain.

Mandatory in-car lessons, delivered by trained professionals during school hours, will ensure that all teenagers get access to this expert tuition.

It is just a pity that this new program only allows for one onroad driving session per student.

Obviously the costs of running such a program are high, but any real change requires significant investment and the more our teens are exposed to expert tuition, the more effective the results will be.

And if we weigh the program costs up against the cost of lives on our road, there really isn’t any argument.