Opinion: Driver licensing needs to be more like motorcycle licensing

Skill often outweighs talent when you hit the road with fresh red P-plates. You've just found your ticket to freedom after having to drive around with your guardian in the passenger seat for a year.

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No more getting orders barked at you by Mum and Dad, no more catching the bus, and no longer needing to walk to your local Macca's. However, with this privilege comes a responsibility that puts your life, and the lives of the people you share the road with, in your hands. This is where motorcycle-like training should come into play.

I come from a background of two-wheeled motoring, riding motorcycles from as young as five years old and being surrounded by bikes. Both my parents have held their licences for decades.

This heritage of motorcycle riding came with the warning that riding is one of the most dangerous things you can do, and taking one out on public roads only elevates that danger.

At first, I thought, 'Pfft, yeah, right, how can it be more dangerous than racing?'. After getting my licence, I soon realised that putting your life in the hands of the general public is much more dangerous than racing at the limit with other professional riders.

Stay Upright is one of the most widespread approved training facilities for pre-learner and motorcycle testing facilities in NSW, Victoria, ACT and Queensland. I did my licensing through Stay Upright and right from the outset I was learning more about defensive riding then I ever thought I would.

One of the first things the Stay Upright coaches told the class was, "You need to ride like everyone on the road is trying to kill you". This has stayed with me for my entire life.

By that he meant don't let your pride get in the way, don't anticipate that a car isn't going to turn out in front of you, don't think that that person beside you will look in their mirrors, and don't think that the car speeding towards a red light will stop before the intersection.

On a motorcycle, you will always come off second-best in an accident with a car. Legalities aside, you will end up in the back of an ambulance.
All it takes is a short look at a Dash Cam Owners Australia YouTube video to realise drivers in Australia don't drive with due care, and a lot of the accidents shown are avoidable if the driver legally in the right drove defensively.

As a motorcyclist, you can take your provisional licence test between three and 12 months of holding your learner's permit. If you do not do your provisional test within 12 months, you must repeat the learner course.

The provisional, or Motorcycle Operators Skills Test (MOST) as it is known in NSW, requires you to take a group ride with the coach of an approved training facility where they monitor your ability to ride on a public road. After the group ride, the coach will sit the class down and take the time to educate each rider individually on what they need to improve on when it comes to their riding.

If your riding doesn't show any red flags, you are taken to a closed course where you must demonstrate that you have full control of your motorcycle. You're tested on your slow-speed turns, cone weaving, slow-speed U-turns, stopping on a point, emergency stops, head checks, and emergency obstacle avoidance.

This course takes nearly an entire day, and by the time you get your Ps, you've already completed a minimum of three days of rider training before you can apply for your provisional licence.

The difference between this and getting my car Ps, which I passed around the same time as my motorcycle licence, is ridiculous. I passed my driving test for my Ps having not undertaken any driver training exercises or lessons that weren't from my parents.

If I jumped in a car without the motorcycle training I had under my belt, there's no doubt that I wouldn't scan the road for upcoming parked cars, pedestrians stepping out on the road, cars lurching forward out of driveways, potential blind spots, and driving to the conditions.

So, why do we place so much importance on training to ride a motorcycle but give car drivers the option to learn solely from their parents, who probably learned from their parents?

While you do have to pay for these courses to obtain your motorcycle licence, a government-subsidised program on driver control and defensive driving should be mandatory in Australia.

Countries like Finland and Sweden implement testing and training far beyond doing a head check before changing lanes and doing a three-point turn. While obtaining your licence in those countries can cost thousands of dollars, you're already a much more skilled driver before you hit the road.

Maybe state governments can use the hundreds of millions worth of fine revenue they bring in each year to subsidise mandatory defensive driving courses for young drivers, making them accessible to all social classes looking to gain the freedom of driving.

As Andrew Constance, the New South Wales roads minister at the time, said, "Everyone needs to know that fine revenue goes straight into a road safety fund to educate people to not do what they've done wrong in the first place".

Well, how about using this "road safety fund" for a defensive driving course instead of plastering billboards and TVs with adverts that tell people they're going to die when they creep slightly over the speed limit?

If only we had more racetracks that could facilitate a large open space for driver training like Pheasant Wood Circuit is doing. Wait a minute, they're being closed down; I wonder why people are speeding on the roads?

As we approach the busy and typically risky Easter period on our roads, Drive is partnering with Nine.com.au to raise awareness about the availability and effectiveness of defensive driver training courses for young drivers.

Over the next four weeks, we will show you how to locate a driver training course near you, what's involved, what to expect, and why every driver – young or otherwise – should consider booking into one. Follow all the updates on our Safer Driving hub.