In Victoria, learner and provisional licence drivers both have the same maximum speed limits as full licence drivers. However, in some other Australian states, such as New South Wales and Tasmania, learner drivers are limited to 80 km/h whenever the posted speed limit is higher and provisional licence (P-plate) drivers also are limited to speeds lower than the posted maximum.
While the rationale for any difference in maximum speeds is because less experienced drivers would find the car easier to control at lower speeds, the difference in speeds in practice causes a situation where full licence drivers repeatedly are required to overtake learner drivers, which increases the risk of crashing. It is usually safest for cars to drive at the same speed as other cars in traffic. As such, it is questionable that different speed limits would actually make the road more safe.
Furthermore, when the provisional licence driver turns into a full licence driver, they would then have a higher maximum speed limit. If they don't have experience driving at those speeds under supervision or while on a provisional licence, it potentially makes it less safe when they first drive at those speeds as a full driver.
The other thing is that it wastes time, not only for the driver, but also for those around the driver who may be required to slow down behind them. 80 km/h is 28% slower than 110 km/h, so driving 330 km would take just over four hours at 80 km/h instead of three hours at 110 km/h. While this effect may be relatively small for short distances, it is considerable at large distances. Given that the safety of such a policy is questionable already, this should also be taken into consideration.
The different speed limits for provisional licence and learner drivers in some non-Victorian states, while designed to make driving safer, may actually make it less safe. The different speeds may lead to more crashes in itself, and the lack of experience from driving at higher speeds as learner or provisional drivers may lead to more dangerous driving at the higher speeds as a new full licence driver. And as 80 km/h is 28% slower than 110 km/h, it also wastes valuable time.
(note: this assumes that people stick to speed limits, which may be more relevant in the Australian context than an American one. I do think that a lot of speed limits in Australia are too low, especially if compared to European ones, but that's another issue. The reason why I thought of this issue now is because of the USyd interviews.)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
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The logic expressed above for allowing learner drivers to drive at the same maximum as fully licenced drivers is flawed. The example of driving 330km would be an exceptional experience for a learner, and in any event driving over vast distances should be tackled progressively I would have thought, just like gradually raising the max speed limit rather than going all the way straight up - doesn't make sense. Hone your skills up to 100kmh and then when licenced you should be able to increase the max with some confidence. A learner making a mistake at 110kmh would not have the skills or experience to recover - speed kills!
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