Make driver’s licences valid for five years

THE holiday road toll and the road toll so far this year demonstrate beyond any doubt that the current road safety strategy is not working.

Significantly, the NZTA Safer Journeys Strategy does not even mention driver skills and the need to improve them.

The police continue to focus on speed, despite their propaganda regarding other factors. Those of us who drive many kilometres on business see this, also beyond doubt.

A change is required from the current approach. The principle that accidents will happen anyway so speed must be reduced to mitigate severity is thoroughly discredited.

An emphasis on improving driver skill is required. This can be achieved by making driver training mandatory and reducing licence validity to five years. This would focus drivers on anticipation and defensive driving. David Charters

Waitati

Teach scepticism

IT’S worth thinking about the way our Government has lost control of its mandate to help its citizens with recent price increases inflicted on an already overworked and underpaid population.

Maybe it’s time to look at our education system and change the focus from testing students to testing ideas?

Our internet world is so full of information that educators need instead to teach the process of sceptical inquiry and relying on evidence. And that goes for our politicians as well.

Life is not all answers but a lot of questions — good teaching should be about sorting the wheat from the chaff in life.

Looking at the media today, one can’t help notice that we need better thinking tools to make robust citizens rather than ‘‘hoop jumpers’’.

Our kids’ phones bring them all the knowledge of the world, but they just need to be taught how to process it. And perhaps learn the joy of discovery. Aaron Nicholson

Manapouri