DRIVER LICENSING REQUIREMENTS AND PERFORMANCE STANDARDS: INCLUDING DRIVER AND RIDER TRAINING: FOR INFORMATION

Under its charter, the NRTC may only address certain issues in respect of light vehicles if significant net benefits can be demonstrated. Driver licensing requirements and performance standards for light vehicles are included in this category. Developing, adopting and operating nationally uniform approaches to driver licensing assessment and associated training has the potential to improve validity, reliability and equity, and may also contribute to reduced crash risk and reduced operational costs. Conclusions resulting from the review of current arrangements include: (1) There appears to be little uniformity in driver licence testing and assessment across Australia; revisions and changes are not made on a national basis; (2) Few on-road tests in use in Australia or overseas have been subjected to empirical evaluation during their development or following their introduction; additionally, there have been few comparative evaluations of driver licence test/assessment components or related training programs and materials used in Australia; (3) Driver licensing standards largely determine what licence applicants will learn and what training and educational materials are provided; (4) Common approaches to the assessment and preparation of drivers across Australia would increase the size of the consistently trained/assessed driver and rider pool and potentially the ability to assess the road safety, efficiency and effectiveness of procedures and initiatives. Driver licensing authorities may use this report, when reviewing or evaluating their existing driver licensing assessment and training arrangements, to consider the potential benefits of a nationally uniform approach. (a)