Expert calls for driver’s license camps for young Maori

The government needs to empower Maori communities to educate and train their own people to safely operate cars, says the car buyers’ Dog & Lemon Guide. Editor Clive Matthew-Wilson says:

“Maori are a small percentage of the population but a large percentage of the road toll. The current driver’s licence system was designed by and for average white New Zealanders, and it often doesn’t work well for other groups.” “A survey done a few years ago by the AA Driver Education Foundation of young people who drove to a Northland training course showed that 92% had no license. 20% of these people couldn’t get a license because they were illiterate.” “You can’t say these young people are simply criminals; their main crime was growing up in a poor area.” “Many young Maori lack access to a legal car for their practical driving test. For many young Maori, their first brush with the law is for driving illegally.” “It amazes me that governments can find hundreds of millions to lock people up when they get into trouble, but can’t find the money to keep people out of trouble.” “The government needs to fund iwi to run intensive and accessible driver’s licence marae-based programs that would last up to a month. During that time the participants would be taught to drive as part of a literacy, and lifeskills program. The program would also provide a legal car for the final licence test. At the end of the month the participants would have not only have a driver's license, but hopefully also self-confidence and an ability to make the system work for them instead of against them.” “There are already similar schemes in operation, but they tend to catch only those few people who come forward asking for help. What is needed is a nationally-funded but locally organised driver training scheme run by Maori, for Maori; one that catches an entire generation, not just a few people at the edges.” “If the scheme works for Maori, then it could be easily extended out into the wider community, offering help to anyone who finds the driver’s licence system challenging.”

• Maori are much more likely than other ethnic groups to die in motor accidents, with a provisional age-standardised road death rate of 21 per 100,000 population in 2006. In comparison, the provisional road death rate for non-Maori in 2006 was 8 per 100,000. Source: Road casualties - Social Report 2009 from the Ministry of Social Development