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Two Murrays Blog: Driving Habits

Posted by: 2UE | 10 March, 2010 - 3:59 PM
Registration to rise by $30 as NSW government wastes $271m

There's a terrific letter to the Sydney Morning Herald today from a Sydney father... a gentleman who taught his three children to drive.

Les Walsh has come up with what I think is a terrific suggestion:

...Perhaps it is time for the RTA to consider the unthinkable: that some licenced drivers are such bad drivers they are not fit to teach others...

Mr Walsh says there's research to show that bad driving habits run in families and he asks: why should parents, or anyone else for that matter, with poor driving records, be permitted to teach?

At present, a lay driving instructor only one point short of the maximum number of demerit points is considered a perfectly fit and proper person to teach a learner.

At the moment, NSW drivers can lose their licences once they've lost 12 points. Mr Walsh says drivers who have accumulated more than 6 points should be banned from teaching ANYONE to drive a car.

Who knows, he says... it might even embarrass some parents into improving their own driving records.

I think Les Walsh is spot on. Drivers with poor records should NOT be allowed to teach anyone to drive, especially their own children. They've probably grown up as silent witnesses to parents who break the rules, who drive with a cavalier disregard for safety. I think drivers like this have forfeited the right to teach anyone else to drive.

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