wollondilly

 27,000 motorists have been suspended
Victoria's Learner Drivers being booked by the THOUSANDS
 Rogue young rookie drivers are racking up demerit points at an alarming rate, VicRoads figures have revealed.

At least 8200 L-platers have been booked and a quarter of learners have at least four demerit points, figures seen by the Herald Sun show.

About 280 of them are just one mistake away from being forced off the road with 10 or more points. A further 1400 rookie drivers have been suspended, including 175 who accrued more than 12 points.

Experts have called for learners who are booked to be banned for two years.

Figures also show:

MORE than 55,000 P-platers have demerit points, including almost 900 with more than 12.

60,000 drivers have 10 or more points.

27,000 motorists have been suspended.

ONE in 10 of Victoria's four million licence holders has more than five points.

Drink-driving, speeding and using a mobile phone while driving are among offences that incur demerit points.

Restricted licence holders who accrue more than five points in a year or more than 12 in three years can lose their permit for three months.

Another month is added for every four extra points.

Road policing Supt Neville Taylor said police would do everything they could to keep rogue learner drivers off the roads.

"We apply the law to learner drivers as much as we do to any other driver," Supt Taylor said.

Accredited driving instructor Jan Spits said learners who incurred demerit points should be suspended for two years.

And supervising drivers should lose points if a learner beside them commits an offence.

The person really in charge of the vehicle is on the left-hand side," Mr Spits said.

Clinical psychologist and adjunct lecturer at Monash University Simon Crisp said learner and probationary drivers should be allowed to accrue fewer demerit points.

"Teenagers and young adults - they need to have much more immediate consequences," Dr Crisp said. "The demerit system should be much tighter for them so they more quickly get to the point where they're going to lose or have their licence suspended, so that consequences are more significant, but also much faster in coming."

Areas of the brain's frontal lobe - which control thinking functions, decision-making and reward-related input - are among the last to develop fully. Some people can be in their mid to late 20s before that brain development is complete.

VicRoads data to January 31 this year showed there were more than 289,000 registered learners.

Would-be drivers can apply for a learner's permit at 16 and must sit a 32-question multiple choice test on road laws, which has a pass rate of 78 per cent.

Double demerit points are "one issue on the table" during broader talks with government and other road safety organisations about how to reduce the road toll.

 

 27,000 motorists have been suspended
Victoria's Learner Drivers being booked by the THOUSANDS
 Rogue young rookie drivers are racking up demerit points at an alarming rate, VicRoads figures have revealed.

At least 8200 L-platers have been booked and a quarter of learners have at least four demerit points, figures seen by the Herald Sun show.

About 280 of them are just one mistake away from being forced off the road with 10 or more points. A further 1400 rookie drivers have been suspended, including 175 who accrued more than 12 points.

Experts have called for learners who are booked to be banned for two years.

Figures also show:

MORE than 55,000 P-platers have demerit points, including almost 900 with more than 12.

60,000 drivers have 10 or more points.

27,000 motorists have been suspended.

ONE in 10 of Victoria's four million licence holders has more than five points.

Drink-driving, speeding and using a mobile phone while driving are among offences that incur demerit points.

Restricted licence holders who accrue more than five points in a year or more than 12 in three years can lose their permit for three months.

Another month is added for every four extra points.

Road policing Supt Neville Taylor said police would do everything they could to keep rogue learner drivers off the roads.

"We apply the law to learner drivers as much as we do to any other driver," Supt Taylor said.

Accredited driving instructor Jan Spits said learners who incurred demerit points should be suspended for two years.

And supervising drivers should lose points if a learner beside them commits an offence.

The person really in charge of the vehicle is on the left-hand side," Mr Spits said.

Clinical psychologist and adjunct lecturer at Monash University Simon Crisp said learner and probationary drivers should be allowed to accrue fewer demerit points.

"Teenagers and young adults - they need to have much more immediate consequences," Dr Crisp said. "The demerit system should be much tighter for them so they more quickly get to the point where they're going to lose or have their licence suspended, so that consequences are more significant, but also much faster in coming."

Areas of the brain's frontal lobe - which control thinking functions, decision-making and reward-related input - are among the last to develop fully. Some people can be in their mid to late 20s before that brain development is complete.

VicRoads data to January 31 this year showed there were more than 289,000 registered learners.

Would-be drivers can apply for a learner's permit at 16 and must sit a 32-question multiple choice test on road laws, which has a pass rate of 78 per cent.

Double demerit points are "one issue on the table" during broader talks with government and other road safety organisations about how to reduce the road toll.