Article: Young drivers call for all-night trains

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From the Melbourne Age click here!

Young drivers call for all-night trains

Young drivers call for all-night trains
BEN HAYWOOD
February 8, 2010

INTRODUCING a limited public transport service in the early hours of the morning could help to reduce young-driver fatalities on Victorian roads, according to young drivers.

Last year 23 per cent of Victorian drivers killed were aged 18 to 25, according to preliminary VicRoads and Transport Accident Commission data, but the age group represented just 13 per cent of the state's licence holders.

Young drivers' safety is under renewed scrutiny after the deaths of five young friends last month when their car crashed into a tree in Mill Park. The driver was a P-plater.

Ten Victorian drivers aged 17 to 25 were asked what they would do to tackle the over-representation of young drivers in road deaths. Half said a lack of late-night public transport meant there were few alternatives to driving in high-risk situations - at night, on weekends, with car loads of passengers, or after drinking.

The Age interviewed the young drivers for a schools road safety liftout aimed at L-plate and P-plate drivers.

The four-page special section appears inside The Age today. Among the views expressed were:

■ That a lack of public transport at night to outer Melbourne suburbs increased the chances some young drivers who had been drinking would risk the journey home behind the wheel.

■ That public transport should run all night, even if this meant just one train every hour.

■ That the NightRider bus service be introduced on Thursdays, a popular night in the city for students. NightRider services at present operate after midnight on weekends.

■ That taxi fares to outer suburbs are too expensive for many young people, especially students, and this increases the chances of inexperienced drivers placing themselves in high-risk situations.

A state government spokesman said there were no plans for all-night public transport, saying necessary maintenance was carried out on the tracks and rolling stock overnight.

Most of the young people interviewed were sceptical about the effectiveness of increasing the drinking age or introducing a curfew for young drivers.