- Red P-plate passenger restrictions to permit
only one passenger in a car at all times
- Expansion of Safe Driver Reward Scheme
to incentivise safe driving
- Safe Driving
Course Pilot Program for learner drivers under 25 years of age
- Expansion
of P.A.R.T.Y. injury prevention program to enable regional students
to understand the traumatic consequences of road crashes and make safer choices
- Review of existing learner and provisional
driver schemes, and skills and training requirements for motorcycle and heavy
vehicles licences
- Suite of
new road safety measures to keep vulnerable novice drivers safe
Red P-plate drivers will be limited to
carrying only one passenger in their vehicles at all times as part of new rules
being introduced by the Cook Labor Government to reduce death and serious
injury on Western Australian roads.
Young
WA drivers aged 17-19 have the highest KSI (Killed or Seriously Injured) rate
at 107 per 100,000 population compared to other age groups (Western Australian
Road Fatalities and Serious Injuries 2023 report).
Statistics
and recent tragedies on our roads have also shown that novice drivers are at
higher risk of crashing when they are distracted.
The new one-person passenger
restriction aims to alleviate this problem and also bring Western Australia
into line with other jurisdictions. A complete curfew on red P-plate driving
between midnight and 5am will continue to apply.
Exemptions
from the passenger restrictions rule will only apply if:
- the additional passenger(s) is an
experienced driver who has held an ordinary C-class licence for at least four
years; or
- other passengers are immediate family members;
or
- if additional passengers are in the
vehicle as a necessary requirement of the driver's employment. For this to
apply, a letter from the driver's employer must be carried by the red P-plate
driver for presentation on request.
The penalty for breaching red P-plate
passenger restrictions is a $200 fine and two demerit points, which is the same
as for driving during the existing red P-plate curfew.
The new restriction will apply for all
existing and future red P-plate drivers from 1 December 2024, following the
tragic deaths of young people on WA roads, including passengers Tom Saffioti
and Nick Campo.
To encourage safe driving, and
instil preventative driving habits early on, the Safe Driver Reward Scheme for
P-plate drivers will be expanded to further incentivise safe driving over a
longer period of three years.
Currently, if P-plate drivers remain demerit-point-free
during their two-year probationary period, they are rewarded with a free full licence
for one year.
Under the expanded pilot program,
drivers who remain demerit-point-free for a further year (i.e. a total of three
consecutive years of demerit-free driving), will be rewarded with up to a $100
discount off their next driver's licence renewal either as:
- a $100 discount off a 5-year licence
(currently $163.50); or
- a one-year licence free (currently
$46.85).
The
expanded incentive is designed to encourage safe driving over a longer period
and deter young inexperienced drivers from taking risks when their probationary
period ends.
Young
drivers who have just passed their driving test are considered high-risk due to
over confidence and inexperience.
Among
other initiatives, the Department of Transport will offer a pilot Safe Driving
Course for up to 750 people under 25 years of age as an optional component of
the existing Driver Access and Equity Program. The course aims to address the
higher crash risk for young provisional drivers in their first six months.
Additional
opportunities for young people to interact with those who have experienced road
trauma will also be introduced as part of the suite of new measures.
The Prevent
Alcohol and Risk-related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) Program, which provides
opportunities for students to understand the trauma associated with road
crashes through WA hospitals, will be extended to regional students.
A
program is also being developed to allow for road crash survivors and their
families to share their experience with sporting clubs, schools and other
community groups with cohorts of young drivers. This will be run alongside
similar programs already being undertaken by Nick Campo's father, Daniel.
Separately, the Government will
commission a comprehensive review into the existing learner and provisional
driver licensing schemes, as well as skills and training requirements for motorcycle
and heavy vehicle licences.
The review will consider the
latest research and best practice experience from other Australian
jurisdictions, including the use of improved hazard perception training, additional
safe driving courses, instructor training and accreditation, penalties and first
aid courses.
It will also examine the
feasibility of a more comprehensive approach to skills-based graduation through
the range of licence categories for motorcycles and heavy vehicles.
Comments attributed to Premier Roger Cook:
"Every death on our roads
is a tragedy, and we know our least experienced drivers are particularly
vulnerable when they get behind the wheel.
"P-plater restrictions were
a key theme that emerged from last month's Road Safety Roundtable, which heard
from a diverse range of road safety experts, stakeholders and people with lived
experience of road trauma.
"Limiting passengers for
novice drivers in the first six months after they attain their licence is a
practical, sensible and enforceable step that strikes the right balance to
protect young drivers, their families and their friends.
"I also want to commend
the majority of new drivers who do the right thing, with expanded incentives on
offer to reward safe driving over a longer period of three years.
"The new changes, referred
to as Tom's Law, will mean WA has some of the most targeted restrictions in the
country when it comes to keeping P-plate drivers safe.
"These latest education
and enforcement initiatives highlight my Government's commitment to road safety
and eagerness to seek new ways to prevent death and serious injury on our
roads."
Comments attributed to Road Safety Minister David Michael:
"Every life lost on our
roads is one too many and the repercussions are devasting for the families and
loved ones left behind. Knowing many of these crashes are preventable is even
more disturbing.
"The new rules mean
Western Australia will have some of the strictest rules for passenger limits on
probationary drivers in Australia.
"Since the Road Safety Roundtable,
the Cook Government has
announced an extra $32.5 million over the next four years to boost regional
road safety and launched the hard-hitting Speeding Shatters Your Excuses
advertising campaign, which targets young people who are over-represented in
crash statistics.
"These new initiatives,
which include the Safe Driving Course Pilot Program for learner drivers and the
expansion of the successful P.A.R.T.Y. Program, further strengthen our focus on
young people, targeting them even before they learn to drive and get their
licences.
"The expansion of the Safe
Driver Reward Scheme provides a further incentive for novice drivers to drive
safely even after they secure their full licence."
Comments attributed to
Police Minister Paul Papalia:
"There are more police
officers on Western Australia's roads than ever before, and they will be out in
force ensuring young people are complying with the law.
"Operation Regional
Influence will see an additional 8,000 extra hours of road patrols, a fleet of
44 high-visibility highway patrol cars and two new alcohol and drug testing
buses boosting regional road safety.
"Serious crashes not only
shatter families but also scar our first responders who see the devastation and
have the incredibly difficult job of notifying loved ones about tragedies."
