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Speaker 1: The government's overhauling the driver's license system changes a glued

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Speaker 1: extending the time spent on learners from six to twelve months,

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Speaker 1: and also scrapping the need for a full licensed test

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Speaker 1: our local MP, among many things. Also happens to be

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Speaker 1: the Associate Minister of Transport. Hello James Meager, Warning Luke morning,

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Speaker 1: Can we how many times did you have to sit

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Speaker 1: that final test? Does this revenge?

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Speaker 2: Oh? No? For me, the final test was one and done.

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Speaker 2: My problem was that I managed to have a couple

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Speaker 2: of goes that there restricted because those small thirty k

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Speaker 2: in our zones that you go through sneak up on

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Speaker 2: you really quick and you end up bridge and the

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Speaker 2: speed limits. So no, it's not a bit of revenge.

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Speaker 2: It's actually we're trying to get the balance right between

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Speaker 2: making sure that young people on the road, well we

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Speaker 2: need learner driver really on the road knows how to drive,

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Speaker 2: but also we don't put unnecessary time, cost and delays

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Speaker 2: into people getting their license. We know it's a really

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Speaker 2: important part of finding employment and being able to get around,

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Speaker 2: particularly in region or rural New Zealand. So we think

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Speaker 2: we struck the balance right with these changes.

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Speaker 1: I spoke to one instructor who I won't name, yesterday,

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Speaker 1: and they weren't overly supportive of it, saying that sure,

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Speaker 1: you're touting the ability to save eighty bucks on that

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Speaker 1: final test, which is already up there, but extending that

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Speaker 1: learner's period, and particularly you know you mentioned those living

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Speaker 1: really around mid Canterbury where we want to fast track

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Speaker 1: things where we can to open up those opportunities of

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Speaker 1: being able to do after school sports and work and whatnot.

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Speaker 1: You sign up to a what is a defensive driving test,

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Speaker 1: and I think that's the thick end of two hundred bucks.

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Speaker 1: So are we really any better off here?

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Speaker 2: Well? I think we are because while the learner's portion

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Speaker 2: is going to extended to two twelve months, it can

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Speaker 2: be brought back down again to six months if the

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Speaker 2: learner undertakes some driver training or has gathered a sort

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Speaker 2: of a certain amount of test of hours or I

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Speaker 2: can practice hours under their belt. So that does provide

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Speaker 2: an incentive for young drivers to go and seek some

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Speaker 2: professional advice. And I've met with a number of driver testers,

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Speaker 2: driver trainers, and actually one of our local ones took

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Speaker 2: me out a couple of years ago and showed me

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Speaker 2: how difficult some of the full license tests are, so

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Speaker 2: we would really encourage young people arend really who's getting

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Speaker 2: their license to look into getting some professional training. It

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Speaker 2: really does help when it comes to understanding what the

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Speaker 2: road rules are and how to actually drive to the

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Speaker 2: conditions that the tests require. That's a difficult test. So

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Speaker 2: we think if you can encourage people to do that

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Speaker 2: kind of training and it reduces some time off their learners,

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Speaker 2: then they can get onto their restricted and if they've

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Speaker 2: got an unbleassed record after two years, they can ultimately

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Speaker 2: convert to their full license.

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Speaker 1: Changes would come in July twenty twenty seven. Why not sooner.

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Speaker 2: Because there's a bit of you know, how it goes

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Speaker 2: the technical process of getting all these changes in place.

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Speaker 2: You've got to think about the systems of MZTA need

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Speaker 2: to change the places you go to apply for your license.

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Speaker 2: All that stuff does take time, and all of it

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Speaker 2: will take time for driver trainers to understand the new

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Speaker 2: ways of training young drivers as well. So there's a

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Speaker 2: bit of order to go into bridge in terms of

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Speaker 2: getting that the systems in place to be able to

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Speaker 2: get this right. But we think it'll make a big

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Speaker 2: difference when it does.

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Speaker 1: I reckon driving should be taught as a subject in school.

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Speaker 1: I mean, we are school so much as it is now,

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Speaker 1: but you know something that we all share in it's

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Speaker 1: all such a such a crucial element of life.

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Speaker 2: Well, that's an interesting idea. There are a lot of

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Speaker 2: schools around mc keennery that do have some sort of

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Speaker 2: driver training programs. We've got those mobile drivers practice units

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Speaker 2: that go around schools and there's often calls for people

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Speaker 2: to sort of be driving mentors for some of the

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Speaker 2: programs that are own in school. So there are some

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Speaker 2: of that happening in our secondary schools. The challenge, of course,

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Speaker 2: is that we pack a lot into the curriculum, so

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Speaker 2: putting it into some sort of subject or some sort

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Speaker 2: of part of the curriculum means sacrificing something else. And

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Speaker 2: I think there's a nice balance between how do you

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Speaker 2: get your family on board to give you a few

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Speaker 2: times when you're starting out. Mum tried her best to

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Speaker 2: teach me how to drive when I started, and I

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Speaker 2: think we're very quickly parted ways and decided to go

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Speaker 2: with some independent too.

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Speaker 1: That's usually Aldians, isn't It's a great way to wind

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Speaker 1: up for the folks of the scene.

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Speaker 2: Too.

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Speaker 1: Hey, Chris Likes' is expected to arrive in White Tounguy today.

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Speaker 1: What are your plans for Friday?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so he's up in White Tangy this week. Of course,

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Speaker 2: we were both in Acroa last year. Was na Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I have got Actually it's a puppet holiday, you know.

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Speaker 2: I kind of think the day itself is a nice

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Speaker 2: time to just relax and reflect and spend time with

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Speaker 2: friends and family. So while I'll be spending the next

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Speaker 2: couple of days working, I've got thanks you up and

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Speaker 2: fine at eight. At the moment, we're raising money for

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Speaker 2: a sports youth sports charity through Parliamentary Cricket, and then

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Speaker 2: I'll be doing the formal White Tangy stuff tomorrow. But

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Speaker 2: the day itself, I think is a nice opportunity for

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Speaker 2: people to just take some time and relax and hopefully

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Speaker 2: enjoy some of the nicer weather coming through.

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Speaker 1: Right, So you're not trying to steal the photo op yourself,

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Speaker 1: just trying to stal those runs, show the black Caps

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Speaker 1: how it's done. A head of said day still

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Speaker 2: Runs and maybe bogle a wicked or two