Turning around driving licence inequality - one school student or police check at a time

Friday, 6 May 2022

A powder-blue Toyota pulls out of the school gates and merges into the swarming traffic of a busy Lower Hutt road.

Taita College student Jacinta Po Ching​ has learnt to navigate the traffic behind the wheels of the school’s car. When she gets her licence she will be able to drive to her part-time retail job, to and from class and to the beach.

“As you get older it actually feels burdening [not having your licence], especially for families that don’t have enough money for gas, or have limited amount of time to finish work early and pick you up,” Po Ching, who is the school’s head girl, said.

Last week, the Government announced an $86.5 million funding boost for driver licensing testing and training – estimating it could help 64,000 people into driving licences through Ministry of Social Development and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency support.

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In a statement on May 4, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni said a big portion of the community couldn’t access driver training or tests due to costs and other barriers. “This disproportionally disadvantages Māori, Pacific peoples, sole parents and rural communities,” she said.

But programmes run by schools and the police are already tackling the issue. Taita College bought its own car and offers its own driving lessons to help the community’s youngest drivers.

Taita College principal Karen Morgan saw such a need for her students to get licences that she initially lent out her own car for lessons.

She didn’t want students missing out on jobs, she said.

“We thought let’s flip that on its head, let’s find a solution to this, and by having the car we are absolutely changing that whole paradigm, so they can go out and work.”

The school bought the Toyota out of its own budget in 2020. Former IT teacher and car-lover Patrick Harlow was contracted to run four-day intensive courses on the road code and road safety, while also giving students driving lessons.

About 30 students completed the programme by 2021, with 10 achieving their restricted licence. The courses are continuing in 2022.

Morgan said a worrying number of people in the community were driving unlicensed – and she didn’t want to see young people involved in car crashes, getting fines, or ending up in court.

“Part of this was to say we’ve got to stop that kind of statistic and do so positively and proactively to make sure our students become role models for their friends, parents, cousins and uncles that haven’t got their licence.”

Data from Waka Kotahi shows that across New Zealand, 2,434 unlicensed drivers were involved in crashes between July 2020 and June 2021.

During the same time period, 298 young people aged between 15 and 19 years old were involved in vehicle crashes in the Wellington, Porirua and Hutt Valley region – 133 were driving on breached licences and 25 were unlicensed completely.

Harlow said cost was a huge barrier for young people to get their licences.

He said it’s between $75 and $150 for professional driving lessons. Adding to that is the cost for the tests: $93.90 for a first attempt at a learner’s licence, and $134.80 for a restricted.

“I’ve been teaching here for 30 years, I know our students and any leg up we can give them makes all the difference. Parents might not have time, wherewithal or patience to give lessons, so the kids can come here in a non-threatening environment and do it in a relaxed way,” Harlow said.

Employment through driver’s licences – NZ Police

While Taita College has formed its plan for helping students gets licences, the police also have a programme for getting unlicensed drivers licensed.

Steve Greally, the national road policing manager, said the He Tangata programme was established in 2018.

Officers who stop unlicensed drivers can refer them to the programme. More than 1500 people have successfully got their licence through the programme since it began.

“We shouldn't immediately jump to the conclusion that they are just guilty and need to pay,” Greally said of unlicensed drivers. “We need to be part of the solution and not the problem.”

“Sometimes when you go heavy-handed on your approach to resolving offences, you can actually exacerbate the problem, the grief, the stress for these people. And you can get far worse outcomes as a result.”

Greally is referring to a life entangled with the justice system.

A large portion of the national prison population had their first interaction with the justice system through a traffic infringement.

According to the Howard League, in 2017, 65% of Maori prisoners had a driving offence as part of their initial prison sentence, including driving without a licence.

Sepuloni mentioned the issue when announcing the Government’s driver licensing funding boost, saying “there are many people in our prisons whose journey to criminal records started with driving fines for driving without a licence. Today is a big step towards changing this.”

Greally said the He Tangata programme is something of a world first, in trying to help potential offenders get a key life skill, and not end up in the justice system.

People referred to He Tangata may still have to pay off a fine for unlicensed driving, but often officers waive the fine upon completion of the programme, and the granting of a licence.

Of those who sat their licence after entering the programme, 81% passed first time, higher than the national average which hovers at about 70%.

What’s more, Greally said 27% of people in the He Tangata programme then gained employment.

“Think about that as a concept,” Greally said. “If we extrapolate that, we get more and more people through these types of programmes, the effect that will have on crime, on road safety, and actually, hauora, people’s well-being.

“It’s a really good thing for someone to be employed, they feel proud of their achievements and this goes some way towards helping [improve outcomes]. It’s not a panacea, but I think it’s a very good first step.”

The He Tangata programme also saw a 55% reduction in infringements among those who got their licence, and a 33% drop in demerit points.