Collision course

Public consultation has opened on proposed changes to the driver licensing process. The changes do include some tighter boundaries through the stages en route to gaining a full licence, but culminates in culling the need for a practical test as the last requirement to gaining a full licence.

The reasons for the proposed licensing tweaks centre around inefficiency in the process not coping with demand, and cost. There are certainly some inefficiencies in the process – potentially needing three eyesight tests in two years for under 25-year-olds progressing through the system seems a little weird. The question of cost is an irrelevance as far as I’m concerned – it should cost a lot. Why? It’s a potentially lethal, expensive privilege afforded to the world’s wealthiest societies. It should not be watered down in terms of qualifying criteria on the back of endemic failure in our education processes, such that those arriving at the bar are ill-equipped to pass and pay for what is an extremely ‘gettable’ qualification.

The other key factor in my questioning such a change is the nature of the act. Driving is not a theoretical discipline, it’s a practical one. Yes, we’ve created rules to manage large-scale simultaneous participation in vehicles of differing size, but driving is, at its core, a ‘doing’ thing. Would you employ a builder to construct you a house if he’d aced the exams, but only ever assisted in the building of one house? What about a pilot who’d had a similar pathway to qualification? Surely the ultimate assessment of a practical qualification is the candidate’s ability to actually execute the discipline in a real-world scenario?

I understand the proposal includes more stringent compliance and tighter breach conditions in the classes leading to full, but that is fraught with pitfalls. Firstly, there is no mandated use of electronic data gathering at the private vehicle level in New Zealand, something that would allow police and regulators to construct a behavioural story around any one individual. That means we rely solely on an under-resourced police force only able to be in one place at one time, supported by a network of portable and stationary cameras. As we’ve seen recently, the ability to travel at over twice the open road speed limit in broad daylight and not be caught is entirely possible. (Refer New Zealand Trucking Media Friday EDM editorial 2 May 2025). Increasing breach conditions i.e. exception management, is not the right way. Determining a new driver is ill-equipped for full open road driving by assessing the level of carnage he or she has caused at an accident site is less than ideal. Some form of skills progress in the restricted licence period has been a huge missing link, even in the current system. If we’re to drop a final sign-off practical assessment in 2026, then it becomes absolutely essential.

Homing in on commercial road transport, I was surprised at one industry association supporting the move from the outset of the announced intention. I understand the driver shortage, and the aging legacy driving demographic, but we must ensure our incumbent members at work are protected above all else. Few industries execute their primary task amidst the public theatre, and it’s the responsibility of our representation to ensure that theatre is as safe for our industry as it can possibly be. Condoning the final act in gaining a full car licence not including some form of final practical assessment falls well short of a representative’s responsibility to the industry.

All the best

Dave McCoid
Editorial Director

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