Joyce Steven: Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Joyce Steven: Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:666;Page:14070] 
Hon STEVEN JOYCE (Minister of Transport) 
: 
 I move  
That the Land Transport (Road Safety and Other Matters) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Transport and Industrial Relations Committee that the committee present its final report on or before 16 December 2010 and that the committee have authority to meet at any time while the House is sitting except during oral questions and during any evening on a day on which there has been a sitting of the House and on a Friday in a week in which there has been a sitting of the House and outside the Wellington area despite Standing Orders 187 189(a) and 190(1)(b) and (c). 
Amongst other things this bill will implement actions from our Safer Journeys road safety strategy for addressing New Zealand’s high level of road deaths and injuries. It focuses on two areas where we believe we can make a real difference: young inexperienced drivers and repeat drink-drivers. Essentially we want to ensure that our young people have the skills and the experience to be safe on our roads. This is a top priority for the Government because last year 32 percent of people killed on our roads were under the age of 25. That is not just disproportionate; it is tragic. 
This legislation seeks to increase the minimum driving age from 15 to 16 years lower to zero the legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers under 20 and allow the New Zealand Transport Agency to strengthen the restricted licence test to encourage 120 hours of supervised driving practice. We are also looking to improve the road safety education available to young people and to increase access to it; to consider vehicle power restrictions for young drivers; to allow approved courses defensive driving and Street Talk to be undertaken in the learner licence phase; and to consider tougher penalties for breaches of restricted licences. 
We can debate all we like which of these initiatives is the most important but the reality is that most Australian states have most of these laws in place and our youth fatality rate is 60 percent higher than theirs. We cannot continue to ignore that statistic. None of these actions is a silver bullet on its own but when combined they will make a real difference to the road toll and to the safety of our young people on the roads. 
The other area we are really focused on in this legislation is drink-driving particularly recidivist drink-driving. This is important because drink-drivers are responsible for one-third of all deaths on our roads. If we can make an impact in this area as well as for young drivers we should see a significant reduction in the road toll. 
In terms of drink-driving the legislation will lower the limit for drivers under 20 years of age from a blood-alcohol level of 0.03 to a zero blood-alcohol level. It will subject repeat drink-drivers to a zero blood-alcohol limit for 3 years after they receive their licence back. It will provide for infringement offences and the associated infringement penalties for the breach of zero drink-driving limits. It will allow courts the option to require repeat or serious drink-drive offenders to use alcohol interlocks after a mandated 90-day disqualification. Interlocks must be used for at least 12 months and can be removed only where the offender shows a violation-free period of 6 months reducing to 3 months if an approved alcohol assessment is also completed. Offenders will be subject to a zero blood-alcohol content limit for the 3 years after the removal of their interlock. This legislation also increases penalties for dangerous driving causing death. 
In regard to the adult drink-drive limit this bill legislates for changes to allow us to carry out research to determine the actual level of harm caused by drivers with blood-alcohol levels between 0.05 and 0.08. This information is not able to be collected currently. It is important that we have all that data before we make what would be I believe a far-reaching change. The important thing is that debate in that respect continues. There is no final decision either way but we will have certainty in a couple of years’ time when the research is certain. 
Primarily this bill is about road safety. It is not always the sexiest of topics but it is very important because we all use the roads and we are all at the mercy of whoever else is on the road at the same time as we are. Driving is a serious job and many of us I am sure have been guilty at times of not treating it as seriously as we should. In the spirit of transparency—with an emerging theme of parliamentary confessions this week—I acknowledge that my own personal driving record in the past has not been perfect. I have been fined a number of times for speeding and once for careless driving—fortunately nothing in recent times. It is the responsibility of all of us to drive carefully on our roads. We will never be able to prevent all crashes but we can make an impact by better preparing our new drivers and instilling in them good habits. We can also keep the most dangerous drivers off the roads. 
As well as improving road safety this bill will improve the efficiency of our land transport legislation by removing duplicated legislation and streamlining the rule-making process. Changes to the land transport rules process will allow rules to be made by Order in Council like other secondary legislation. This is quicker and less complicated than the current rules process. Improving efficiency is a key goal for the Government. It supports other efforts such as ensuring that whenever possible new rules are introduced on either 1 April or 1 October so that keeping track of changes is more straightforward for affected industries and the public. 
I believe that the provisions in this bill will have a very solid impact on our country’s high levels of road death and injury and send clear messages about the dangers of drink-driving and the impact of drivers who cause death. At the same time we will use this opportunity to simplify and clarify our transport law helping to improve efficiency by allowing the repeal of duplicated legislation. I commend this bill to the House.