Why foreigners could be made to sit a driving test before they are able to hire a car in Australia

Why foreigners could be made to sit a driving test before they are allowed to hire a car in Australia

  • Inquiry into Increase in Victoria’s Road Toll heard a proposal for foreign drivers 
  • Deakin University staff proposed drivers do a simulation on Australian roads
  • Simulations could be installed at car hire shops and airports to create safer roads
  • Inquiry focused on road maintenance, drug and alcohol testing and speed issues

International visitors to Victoria could be made to do a virtual driving test before they are able to hire a car.

The idea was proposed by Deakin University representatives earlier this month at the state government Inquiry into the Increase of deaths on Victorian roads.

Professor Saeid Nahavandi from Deakin’s Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation said foreign drivers could take a test on a simulator to prepare them for Australian road rules and driving conditions. 

Deakin University staff proposed foreign drivers should do a simulation on Australian roads before being able to hire a car in Victoria (stock image)

‘You first have a driver’s licence but then you have another licence where the person already has the experience in the virtual world using Australian roads, and creating a simulation environment like that is not very challenging,’ he told the inquiry, as reported by Geelong Advertiser.

Professor Nahavandi said the simulations could be installed at car hire locations and airports to create safer roads for motorists.

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‘So these kinds of simulators they can be the key and critical things in the society to reduce the number of accidents through education,’ he said.

Professor Nahavandi’s team are looking into artificial intelligence to be able to detect the behaviour of road users to prevent accidents.

The inquiry was prompted by last year’s increase in the number of deaths on Victorian roads.

There were 263 deaths on Victorian roads in 2019, which was 50 more than the previous year.

The inquiry has focused on road maintenance and standards, drug and alcohol testing and speed management issues.

Simulations could be installed at car hire shops and airports (Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne pictured) to create safer roads

Simulations could be installed at car hire shops and airports (Tullamarine Airport in Melbourne pictured) to create safer roads

Liberal MP Beverley McArthur told the inquiry 20 per cent of accidents that require an ambulance in her electorate in Western Victoria feature a foreign driver.

Data found the drug ice was involved in 22 per cent of accidents where a driver died, while speed was involved in 30 road deaths.

Regional roads had more deaths than metropolitan roads, with distraction a factor in 11 per cent of road deaths. 

A report will be completed from the inquiry by March 31.

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