Good driver incentives
WE HAVE COMMENTED before about how improving driver behaviour is all about the stick and never the carrot.
No matter how well, safely and responsibly you drive, it seems, you are always at risk of being penalised for a minor breach of the rules. Even if you’ve just travelled the last 1000km at the speed limit, get caught exceeding it, even for an instant, and you’ll face severe and expensive consequences.
Thanks to a reader in WA, we have learnt that it isn’t always the case.
His daughter had held her provisional licence for 12 months and received the renewal notice to renew her licence for one year, or five years.
Much to his surprise, and no doubt her delight, the notice carried the message “Congratulations. You have completed your provisional driving without committing any traffic offences. To reward you for being a safe and responsible driver, the Government’s ‘Safe Driver Reward Scheme’ entitles you to a free one-year licence.”
Now, we call that proactive and positive.
Meanwhile, NSW continues its program of offering good drivers a 50 percent discount on their licence renewal fee if they can demonstrate a good driving record over five years. As a result, about 2.1 million motorists are eligible for a cheaper licence in NSW out of the 4.3 million restricted licence holders. The scheme was introduced in 2012. The savings on a ten-years licence come to a substantial $162.
Victoria had a similar scheme operating but in 2013 limited the discount to drivers under 26, with a 25 percent saving available. At the time (2013) this equated to about $18 for a three-year licence.
Of course, we know how Victoria treats motorists: as cash cows. The director of VicRoads at the time, James Holgate, suggested the discount wasn’t delivering much of a result (obviously, people expected a better return for good driving than a $6 a year saving). “I guess the whole question about the reward is it is really saying to people, ‘Well done. You complied with the law, here’s a reward’, he said. “Do people really need a reward to comply with the law or do we need to spend the money on more targeted intervention?” he asked. We all know what the answer is to that one. He went on to say the savings would go towards a graduated licensing system for young drivers and would “provide a better outcome for road safety”.
The then-Opposition Leader, Andrew Daniels said the decision was “tricky, mean and short-sighted”. Needless to say, since he and his party came to power, the program hasn’t been reinstated.
As far as we have been able to ascertain, no other state or territory has any form of reduction in licence fees for a record of good driving. In fact, as one reader pointed out when he received his expiation notice for a minor speeding infringement, it was specifically stated that “a good driving record will not be considered in the issuing of expiation notices”.
For motorists, the stick is alive and well. Not so the carrot.