Road safety would be improved more by increasing the amount of training young drivers have with experienced drivers rather than lifting the driving age, a local car club believes.
Club captain of the Marlborough Car Club, Richard Bateman, said the Cabinet's plan to increase the minimum age for a learner's licence from 15 to 16 was not a solution to lowering high crash statistics.
"Raising the age won't teach them anything different. They just have to wait another year."
His comments came after Blenheim driving instructor Rod Hill last week said the Government was "just fiddling around with things" and the one-year wait would not make any difference. He said one way for young drivers to improve was to join a local car club.
Mr Bateman said a learner's licence was proof that drivers knew the rules, but did not mean they had the practical experience necessary to drive a car.
He said the "core problem" with driver licensing was young drivers were not exposed to "real-life situations" and familiarity with these came only with experience. "Reading a book doesn't mean you know how to drive. Drivers need practical experience.
"If something goes wrong, you need to know what to do. You can't just put your hands in the air and look away.
"You don't want, the first time you experience wet road conditions, to end up with injuries."
President of the Marlborough Car Club, David Gee, said although the organisation did not have specific programmes aimed at teenage drivers, they were given opportunities to try new driving techniques. "We leave the actual training to the professionals, but during our events we sometimes get them to try out different skills."
Mr Gee said young drivers would benefit greatly from learning about how cars worked, rather than using them just to get around. He said this was something older drivers could teach those less experienced.
Ministry of Transport statistics show drivers aged 15-19, as well as those 20-24, are consistently involved in more fatal road crashes and crashes causing injury than any other age group.
Figures from the Ministry of Transport released to The Marlborough Express show four road fatalities involved people aged 15-24 between 2005 and 2009 in the Marlborough region. Two of the young people were drivers.
By SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express
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