1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,760 Speaker 1: New research from the AA Research Foundation this morning. They 2 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: reckon young drivers are committing around forty percent fewer traffic 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: offenses than are a decade ago. Offending rates for fifteen 4 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: to nineteen year olds have fallen by forty one percent, 5 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:15,400 Speaker 1: drunk and drugged driving by fifty eight percent, and seat 6 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,600 Speaker 1: belt offenses by fifty two percent. Young driver fatalities are 7 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: also down, but still above the OBBOCD average and above 8 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,439 Speaker 1: the older age groups here as well. Jeff Upson is 9 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 1: a Rodney local board member and road safety campaigner with 10 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:28,520 Speaker 1: me this morning. 11 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 2: Jeff, good, he he done? 12 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 1: Yeah good, thank you. First of all, these numbers are good. 13 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: I mean, we see the headlines about the boy racers, 14 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 1: but actually on the whole they're behaving better than they 15 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: were than I was ten years ago. 16 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I think, you know, we can't lump 17 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,559 Speaker 2: in the boy racers and all young drivers. But yeah, no, 18 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:51,519 Speaker 2: you're right in this statistic of fifty eight percent reduction 19 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,279 Speaker 2: and drink driving and young people. I mean, that's an 20 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 2: amazing statistic. But we do need to be careful how 21 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 2: we review statistics because that could just be drink driver testing. 22 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 2: So so it's really important how we interpret the data, 23 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:10,320 Speaker 2: But if the statistics also show less crashes, then maybe 24 00:01:10,319 --> 00:01:11,640 Speaker 2: that is a factual thing. 25 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,199 Speaker 1: Well, I mean the deaths, the fatalities are coming down, right, 26 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: fatalities are down from twenty two point five per one 27 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: hundred thousand to sixteen point six over that ten year period. 28 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, I wonder what else we're looking at, you know, 29 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,360 Speaker 2: some of the other things that have created that data. 30 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 2: I mean, is it the tires are getting better on cars? 31 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 2: I mean, have we got better driver education now? I 32 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 2: think driver education for young people is probably the most 33 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 2: important thing, and it's important that we learn how to 34 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:46,039 Speaker 2: drive when we were younger. You know, it's a lot 35 00:01:46,040 --> 00:01:49,440 Speaker 2: more difficult to learn things, you know, for you and 36 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 2: I now than when we were at school an old. 37 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: Dog new tricks. So one of the things that they've 38 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: identified is they want this is AA. They want driver 39 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: training to be well, the learner license period to go 40 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 1: from six months to a year. And they reckon that, 41 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,160 Speaker 1: you know, the parents perhaps aren't spending enough time in 42 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: the car with the kids. Something like seventeen percent of 43 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: them are getting less than fifteen hours over that six 44 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: month period of actual driving time. 45 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's not a lot of time at all. And 46 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 2: The other thing is that if you're learning from your parents, 47 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 2: I mean, that's that's great, but it's sometimes you pick 48 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 2: up the bad habits and sometimes it's really important to 49 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 2: have a professional driver trainer, at least for a small 50 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 2: portion of your education process. And there's a lot of 51 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 2: professional driver training courses, you know, Greek Murphy sponsors one 52 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:46,359 Speaker 2: that it's on the racetrack and you learn some particular 53 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:49,760 Speaker 2: special skills. Some of the most basic things are not 54 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:52,920 Speaker 2: being taught. You know, for example, what a tire footprint is. 55 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 2: We are't going to it today, but maybe the listeners 56 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 2: will google that later on and find out what that means. 57 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: What can you just tell me because I actually don't know. 58 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, so you look at the tire and you 59 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 2: think it's a massive, big tire, but the tire footprint 60 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 2: is the teeny tiny little part of that tire that's 61 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:12,639 Speaker 2: actually touching the road, and quite often that's about the 62 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 2: size of your hand. So you know, you think you're 63 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 2: driving one hundred or one hundred and ten kilometers along 64 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 2: a wet road, but you've only got such a teeny 65 00:03:19,960 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 2: tiny little bit of rubber actually keeping you going in 66 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:23,919 Speaker 2: a straight line. 67 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, right, okay, but like Fred Finstone putting his foot down, 68 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: it's not much. It's not much tread. Okay. So so 69 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:33,640 Speaker 1: you kind of agree with AA. You think there should 70 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: be a more focus on training. Who taught you how 71 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: to drive? 72 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,040 Speaker 2: Jeff? It was a mix I learned from watching watching 73 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 2: Dad drive. I also had a lot of experience off road, 74 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,120 Speaker 2: you know, on farms, driving on gravel roads and driving 75 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,680 Speaker 2: der bikes. So I think I was quite lucky in 76 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 2: that respect. But I did have some professional driver training 77 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 2: and I did a team some driver training courses. There 78 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 2: was a the company's gone bus now but it was 79 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 2: called drive and that was like a full day event. 80 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 2: Some in the classroom, some some behind the wheel and 81 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 2: some of the some of the things that I learned 82 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 2: doing that was invaluable. You know, you just can't learn 83 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 2: it without actually doing something like that. 84 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, I did the same thing, Jeff. Thank you very 85 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: much for that. Jeff Upson, a Rodney Local board member, 86 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: road safety campaigner. 87 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:24,679 Speaker 2: For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live 88 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,800 Speaker 2: to news talks it'd be from five am weekdays, or 89 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 2: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.