Cost is the main cause of the latest delay in implementing a graduated licensing programme for young drivers in the Cayman Islands.
Mr. McLean |
The Caymanian Compass reported last week that the licensing programme would not be in place by the previous target date of 1 July. At the time, Works and Infrastructure Minister Arden McLean said there had been delays finding qualified instructors for the effort.
However, officials with the MattSafe driver education committee were concerned requirements that young drivers practice a certain number of hours with a private instructor could put a driving licence out of reach for some families.
Last week, Mr. McLean agreed with those statements.
‘The actual cost, the way we were thinking about this thing (the graduated licence programme), may be prohibitive,’ Mr. McLean said. ‘We may have to step back a little bit. They (MattSafe and StreetSkill) are asking for January 2008. I believe it might be possible before that.’
Under the plan, licensing instructors would not be government employees. But they would be trained and regulated by government, according to Mr. McLean.
‘I cannot put a price on it (instructor’s services); that’s free enterprise,’ Mr. McLean said.
For example, Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts’ daughter recently earned her driving licence. Mr. Tibbetts said he paid $25 an hour for a driving instructor’s course.
If the government were to require 40 hours of instruction under the graduated licensing programme at the $25 per hour rate, it would cost someone $1,000 to take that course.
‘I don’t want to put a time requirement on them that will prevent them from coming in to get a licence,’ Mr. McLean said. ‘Maybe we need to look at it from the perspective that…we just make a requirement that they go to an instructor.’
Graduated licensing is a step-by-step programme that young drivers would have to complete prior to earning a full driving licence. The programme was made part of the Traffic Law in March 2005.
After taking a written test to earn a Teenage Learner’s Licence, young drivers would be given a certain amount of time to clock road hours with a qualified professional driving instructor.
Mr. McLean has previously said two types of instruction would be required before young drivers could graduate to a full licence. One could be done with a parent, relative or friend who was of proper age; the other would involve more formalised teaching.
It’s unclear whether the parental instruction time is still going to be required when the graduated licensing programme is finalised.
Several new driving safety measures planned at the beginning of this year have also been put on hold, in part because of a lack of feedback from stakeholders.
The tougher measures were expected to include stiffer regulation on the importation of certain vehicles, restrictions on cell phone use while driving, automatic disqualification of a driver’s licence for excessive speeding, and increased fines for speeding and other traffic offences.
‘We set an April deadline for stakeholders to get back to us with suggestions,’ Mr. McLean said. ‘Unfortunately, no one has.’
Mr. McLean said he expected to put a draft bill out for public comment with, or without input from driving safety groups, insurance companies and auto dealers.
‘It has not fallen by the wayside,’ he said. ‘It is reaching the point now that the line must be drawn.’
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