Kerre Woodham: Driving is the most dangerous thing we do everyday

Two stories today, one from Hawke’s Bay, one from Nelson, and they have a horrible, horrible intersection.  

Motorsport legend Greg Murphy has slammed plans by the Ministry of Transport to remove the full license practical test. Back in April, the Minister for Transport Chris Bishop announced a range of suggested changes to the licencing system, including removing the full licenced practical tests. There are loads of people driving around on their restricted and he wants them to get their full licence.  

A group of Hawke’s Bay teens spoke out, saying they thought removing the full licenced practical test was a really good idea because it would remove stress and anxiety. They argue that the restricted license practical test is already so difficult, so complex, that it leaves the full test unnecessary. One of the young women spoken to, said “I was so worried about having to do separate things right that I wasn't able to do it because I was forgetting other things, it just wasn't natural”. This is the young woman that had to sit her restricted four times before she passed.  

And she's not alone, there are plenty of young people who've had to do it time and time again because they don't get it right the first time. It is complex, it is difficult. After Greg Murphy read those comments in the local paper, he said driving is possibly the most dangerous thing that people do every single day. He said if you think the test is too hard, you're in la-la-land. The tests are basic and simple – if you do the right amount of preparation, just like you do in a school exam or any kind of test in your apprenticeship or at university, you will be absolutely fine.  

Greg Murphy, who's a V8 Supercar icon and Bathurst winning driver, says New Zealand has so many drivers who aren't prepared for the roads and who don't have understanding or awareness of their driving environment or the distractions that afflict them. He said we've got this culture and this belief that an accident won't happen to me. I won't be the one who's dead. I'm not going to be the one that's seriously injured. I'm not going to be the one where my life is turned upside down at the age of 18.  

And in a cruel, cruel piece of synchronicity, there's a terrible story that absolutely underscores his argument. This time last week, a Nelson family was dealing with the news that one of their sons was in hospital fighting for his life, paralysed from the waist down; his good mate and brother-in-law, who was in the car with him as badly injured with a fractured neck, broken ribs, two broken shoulders, facing a long recovery and a baby due in a matter of weeks. Another man, the man that the car smashed into, the sole driver of the other car was left seriously injured. And the 18-year-old driver is at home having to live with the fact that he was driving the vehicle that crossed the centre line that caused so much damage to so many people. As his mum put it, Izayah’s got a lifetime of knowing he was driving in an accident that crippled his brother.  

The 18-year-old was the sober driver, picking up his brother and brother-in-law in the work ute, taking them into town to get KFC. He hadn't been drinking, he was he was doing the right thing, picking up his brother and brother-in-law who’d had a few drinks. So the 18-year-old gets into his work ute, picks up his brother and his brother-in-law, they're driving into town, and then all of a sudden a moments inattention or inexperience, and he's ploughed into another car, seriously injuring that driver, his brothers paralysed and his brother-in-law has got a broken neck, broken shoulders, and won't be able to pick up his baby when it's born in a matter of weeks.  

I agree with Greg Murphy. For most of us who aren't involved in forestry or farming or a dangerous industry, driving is the single most dangerous thing we'll do every single day. If those kids think that sitting a test is stressful, you try living with the knowledge that you've destroyed another person's life.   

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