You’ve got your driver licence!

Congratulations! Welcome to a whole new world of freedom and independence. Take it easy though, you’re in the danger zone. Road crashes are highest in the first two years of driving and around one in five new drivers has a crash in the first year.  

Be a safe driver

Know more than just the road rules and how to control a car.

Respect other road users.

Improve your skills and knowledge whenever you can.

Increase your ability to cope with the unexpected by gaining broader experience through the complete range of driving conditions: city streets and roads, peak hour traffic, freeways, highways, country roads, unsealed roads, mountain roads, night, rain, and other conditions.

Tips for new drivers

1. Drive sober. If you’re under 25 with a P1 or P2 licence, you must have a zero concentration of alcohol in your blood or breath when you’re behind the wheel.
2. Don’t drive on drugs. Queensland has zero tolerance for driving on drugs.
3. Always check with your doctor or pharmacist about the effects of cold and flu medications. They can often reduce your concentration, alertness and reflexes.
4. Driving tired is as dangerous as driving drugged or intoxicated.
5. Slow down. Stick to the speed limit. The faster you go, the longer it takes to stop and the higher the impact of the crash.
6. A crash at 50 kilometres per hour (km/h) equals the impact of falling from a 3 storey building. Crashing at 100 km/h equals the impact of falling from a 12 storey building.
7. Seatbelts increase the chances of surviving a serious crash by 50 per cent.
8. Safe night driving is a developed skill. From 11.00 pm to 5.00 am, young drivers are permitted only one passenger under 21 years.
9. Answering, listening and talking on a moblle phone increases the chance of a crash.
10. The more passengers a new driver has in his or her car, the higher the risk of a crash.

For more information visit: www.transport.qld.gov.au/youngdrivers

Tips for passengers

1. Don’t get into a car if the driver has been drinking, taking drugs or is tired.
2. Don’t encourage the driver to speed or hoon around.

Drive safely. Be here. Here for Life.

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