Wednesday, 15 April 2020
Austroads has published a report comparing vehicle registration and driver licensing practices in Australia, New Zealand and Europe following the signing of a partnership agreement between Austroads and the Association of European Vehicle and Driver Registration Authorities (EReg) in December 2017. Austroads represents eight Australian jurisdictions and New Zealand, whilst EReg represents 28 European countries.
“Our partnership with EReg aims to develop stronger collaborative ties between our organisations,” said David Bobbermen, Austroads’ Program Manager Safety. “The purpose of this report was to examine the similarities and initiatives at a summary level for registration and licensing practices so we could work together on common areas of interest, and learn from successes that could inform our future policies and create better outcomes for our communities.”
Similar challenges include ensuring that training, assessment and licensing conditions promote driver safety; combating vehicle identity crime and drink and drug driving; and protecting data.
“Many jurisdictions have developed strategies to embrace new vehicle technologies including electric and autonomous vehicles, and digital services,” said David
Other similarities between Austroads and EReg jurisdictions include:
- categorisation of vehicle types and recognition of internationally licensed drivers
- the minimum age to obtain a driver licence for a light vehicle being between 17 and 18 years
- exploring the use of digital driver licences, with some jurisdictions having already implemented these
- a penalty point system to sanction drivers for infringements
- a focus on road safety, especially young driver safety
- a major system to support widespread information sharing (EUCARIS in Europe and NEVDIS in Australia).
Initiatives which provide improved learning include:
- European countries mandate third party property damage insurance in addition to personal injury insurance
- European countries inspect vehicles periodically for road safety and vehicle integrity purposes
- European jurisdictions prefer driver training to supervised driving to obtain a licence while Australian jurisdictions require supervised driving experience
- Europe relies more than Australasia on partner organisations in areas such as inspections, and driver training and testing
- alcohol interlocks are more prevalent in Australia than in Europe
- personalised registration plates are common in Australia and New Zealand, but are not as popular in Europe and sometimes not available.
Future editions of this report could broaden the scale of collaboration and comparison to incorporate information from other regions such as the USA and Asia.
Download Vehicle Registration and Driver Licensing in Australia, New Zealand and Europe: A Comparison Study