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Young drivers face a road safety crisis that begins long before they pull out of the driveway for the first time. Road crashes are the leading cause of death among 15- to 29-year-olds globally, and locally, the Road Accident Fund attributes 40% of road deaths to young people. Inexperience is a major contributor to this.
The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says while the tendency to drive recklessly is higher amongst the youth, obtaining one’s license may need to be reassessed. “Passing a K53 test is not the same as being equipped to drive on South African roads. The test measures procedural compliance, and seldom one’s competence and experience under real-world conditions.
“A young person can pass their test after practicing on quiet roads in ideal conditions and within weeks be navigating highway traffic, aggressive drivers, and poor road conditions with no additional preparation. This produces licensed drivers, not experienced ones.”
Countries with significantly better road safety statistics appear to understand this:
- French learner drivers must complete a minimum of 20 hours of driving lessons with a professional instructor before taking the test.
- Finland and Norway focus on mandatory safety hours. Learners must complete dedicated, multi-hour courses on skidpan driving (slippery road control) and night driving before getting their licenses.
- Australia has a graduated licensing system that requires learners to log up to 120 hours of supervised driving before progressing.
- Germany requires a specialised curriculum including 12 mandatory driving hours divided into specific scenarios (5 hours on rural roads, 4 hours on the autobahn, and 3 hours of night driving).
- In the United Arab Emirates if you do not already hold a licence from an approved country, you must register with an official driving school and complete a mandatory curriculum of up to 20 hours of practical training.
Young drivers are most at risk of a crash within the first month of obtaining their licence. Herbert says: “When supervised experience is not built into obtaining a license, new drivers are exposed to unnecessary risk. Inexperience compounds quickly. Misjudgements and an inability to identify hazards are less often because of bad driving but rather a lack of experience.
“This Youth Month celebrate young drivers by investing in their futures. One of the most meaningful investments any parent, employer, or institution can make is ensuring young drivers receive training and experience development that goes beyond legal requirements. It is much more effective than just teaching young drivers what to do, but why.”
Characterising youth as reckless places the burden entirely on individual behaviour. “Yet, young drivers begin in complex, often dangerous environments with minimal experience. Changing the tragedy that the youth often face on the roads requires that we change what we consider sufficient development of experience,” says Herbert.