Call to loosen curfew for restricted drivers
Drivers on restricted licences could be able to travel to and from work at any time of the day, if a private member’s bill makes its way through Parliament.
National list MP Paul Goldsmith has drafted the bill which would allow restricted licence holders to drive between their home and workplace at any time for work purposes.
Currently, drivers on restricted licences cannot drive between 10pm and 5am except in ‘‘very special situations’’, unless they are accompanied by a full licence holder of more than two years.
Goldsmith said he drafted the bill because good governance should be about making things easier for people, not harder.
Although the bill had not yet been drawn from the ballot, Goldsmith believed it would spark debate if it was.
‘‘A lot of people at that age – in their last year of school or at university – have jobs in the hospitality sector,’’ the Epsombased MP said.
‘‘Very often, those shifts don’t finish until 10.30pm or somewhere around there, and it’s just a pain in the neck [to get home].’’
New Zealand Transport Agency regulations allowed for exemptions in special circumstances. The agency said 750 of 1585 exemption applications, primarily for driving hours, were approved for restricted drivers last year.
Goldsmith said the bill was intended to ‘‘remove a barrier to employment’’.
‘‘The arbitrary nature of the rule against driving after 10pm and before 5am makes it unnecessarily difficult for restricted drivers to get to or from work during those hours when public transport, if it is useful for the route to be taken, is seldom available,’’ it says.
It was probably quite common for people in those situations to drive outside of the curfew, Goldsmith said.
And because they were breaking the law, any such driver involved in a crash would not be insured.
The law could work most simply if an employee stopped by police could produce a letter within 30 days proving they were travelling to work, he said.
Federated Farmers transport regulations spokeswoman Karen Williams has pledged the organisation’s support for the bill to make it through to the select committee, if drawn from the ballot.
‘‘There are a number of situations where the value of an employee being able to get to work outside these hours outweighs the risks – including the ability of farm employees to drive farm vehicles on the road.
‘‘Let’s have the conversation about whether we can support our young people to get to work and home under their own steam,’’ Williams said.
Automobile Association road safety spokesman Dylan Thomsen said there was a reason the curfew was in place, with drivers under-25 involved in the most crashes and road deaths on New Zealand roads. Crash rates were also higher at nights, he said.
‘‘We think talking about the curfew times is only one small part of the whole picture for young drivers and being safe on the roads.
‘‘We think a much better approach would be to question how young people are learning to drive and the way the current system works in total.
‘‘I’m really hoping we’re going to see some significant work being done in the future to look at this whole issue and how young people learn to drive.’’
Caroline Perry, from road safety charity Brake, said the night curfew was an important safety feature of the country’s graduated driver licensing system.
‘‘Factors such as speed, fatigue and poor visibility can increase crash risk at night, and coupled with inexperience, this puts young drivers at even more risk.’’
People can apply for a restricted licence if they have had a learner’s licence for six months and are at least 161⁄2 years old.