New drivers will be put through extra tests in Sydney, Australia

Date: 25/10/2011

A new road safety audit in Sydney, Australia, will see new drivers put through a course looking at risk awareness, risk factors and road safety, in addition to a practical driving test.

Roads minister Duncan Gay has said the reason for the course extension is that young Sydney drivers were overrepresented in fatality statistics, with one being involved in 25 per cent of all fatal accidents.

Peter Achterstraat of the Road and Traffic Authority said: "Young drivers need to be better safeguarded from high-risk situations during the first year of unsupervised driving."

Drivers who have recently passed their test will be subject to these extra trials in a bid to develop their driving behaviour.

Motorists will also assess their own skills, to gauge how young people perceive their own driving.

This initiative comes days after a proposal suggesting a curfew on Friday and Saturday nights for these drivers, known as P-plate drivers.