New drivers who do the right thing to keep themselves and others safe on the road will get discounts on licence fees under a new initiative from the Transport Canberra and City Services Directorate.
Minister for Transport and City Services, Chris Steel said to encourage good driving behaviour, new drivers would receive the discounts if they progressed through their provisional licence phases free of demerit points, traffic infringement notices and court-imposed traffic penalties.
“Canberra’s provisional drivers are over-represented in road crashes – they make up over 10 per cent of crashes despite being just five per cent of licensed drivers,” Mr Steel said.
“We want to encourage P-plate drivers to be sensible and law-abiding road users, building good habits early to make our roads safer for everyone,” he said.
“The new discount means provisional drivers who progress through the P1 stage of their licence without attracting demerit points, traffic infringement notices or court-imposed traffic penalties will receive a 50 per cent discount on the fee paid for the P2 stage of their licence,” he said.
“This represents a current saving of $41.”
Mr Steel said drivers who demonstrated good driving behaviour through both the P1 and P2 stages of their provisional licence would receive a further 30 per cent discount on licence fees on their full licence, a saving of $60.40 on a five-year full licence fee or $112.40 on a 10-year licence fee.
“This means being safe can save provisional drivers up to $153 on current licence fees,” he said.
“Creating good habits in young and new drivers will set them up for safe driving behaviours for the rest of their lives.”
