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Hard road ahead for young motorists
Stricter rules; Driver's ed course to be required for licence
By CHERYL CORNACCHIA, The GazetteSeptember 8, 2009
MONTREAL – Chelsea Parasuco looked at her rear-view mirror, then double-checked over her shoulder before she shifted into reverse during a driving lesson last week.
With only about three weeks to go before she takes a test for her Quebec driver's licence, the 16-year-old Beaconsfield girl is set to avoid a major new speed bump for young motorists, and she wants to keep it that way.
Starting next month, all new Quebec drivers will face tougher licence requirements aimed at improving road safety. These will include 15 hours of mandatory driving instruction and 24 hours of driving theory.
As of Oct. 25, anyone with a learner's permit will be obliged to take theory and on-road instruction at an accredited driving school.
There's a rush now for learner's permits, as well as a rise in demand for driving lessons before prices go up.
Morty Preisler, owner of Morty's Driving School, which operates in Snowdon and Dollard des Ormeaux, said he has had a 30- to 40-per-cent increase in customers since the new regulations were announced last month.
Wendy Craddock, owner of Wendy's Driving School in Kirkland, also has seen a jump in business.
"eople know prices are going to double," said Craddock, who now offers 12 hours of in-car instruction and six hours of theory for about $450.
"I'm glad I didn't wait," Chelsea said as she hopped out of a Toyota Corolla after a lesson last week at Wendy's.
"I know five or six friends who are cramming (to get a learner's permit) now."
Chelsea, a Grade 11 student at Villa Maria High School, got her learner's permit in January, only days after her 16th birthday.
Since then, she has been studying the rules of the road, taking driving lessons and, most recently, practising behind the wheel with her father after supper.
"My instructor says I should do just fine if I keep driving the way I'm driving," she said.
"I want to be independent."
The new driver's licence requirements are the latest provincial government initiative aimed at reducing traffic death rates among drivers age 16 to 24.
At present, new drivers in Quebec aren't required to take any driving instruction before getting a driver's licence, although many do.
But completing 12 hours of road instruction with an accredited driving school enables a new driver to obtain a licence after only eight months, instead of a full year.
The fast-track option will also disappear after the new regulations take effect Oct. 25, however. Everyone will have to wait at least one year before getting a driver's licence.
"Everything is going to change," said Audrey Chaput, a spokesperson for the Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec, the provincial vehicle insurance board.
Quebec government officials are still working on the details, including training for driving instructors across the province this fall, she said.
But what is certain is that the new driving theory classes are designed to ensure novice drivers better understand the risks of speeding, driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and road rage, Chaput said.
"The idea is that, before you learn how to drive on the road, you have to learn how to behave on the road."
Not surprisingly, driving schools are welcoming the changes to Quebec's driving licence system.
Experts in road safety and driving behaviour also look favourably upon mandatory driving theory classes.
For years, Quebec drivers were required to complete 30 hours of driving theory before getting a licence. Mandatory driving theory courses were discontinued in 1998 when it became clear they were having little impact on traffic fatality rates among young drivers, said Charles Torreiro, a Montreal road safety consultant and author of safe driving texts.
New teaching methods may prove more successful at changing risky road behaviour, especially among 16- to 24-year-old drivers, Torreiro said. |
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