Greg Murphy: Kiwi motorsport legend on the Govt's proposal to axe practical tests for full drivers licenses

A Hawke’s Bay-based motorsport legend says a plan by the Ministry of Transport to remove the full-licence practical test is nothing short of “ludicrous”. 

In April, Minister for Transport Chris Bishop announced a range of suggested changes to the licensing system, including removing the full-licence practical test and introducing safety mitigations for people on their learner or restricted licence. 

The Government is proposing the changes to make the process “more accessible, efficient and affordable”. 

Greg Murphy, V8 Supercar icon and Bathurst-winning driver, told Kerre Woodham that nearly 10 thousand people have died on the road in the last 25 years, 2500 of them between the ages of 15-24.  

He says this discussion with the govrnment has provided an opportunity to reassess and reevaluate the licensing system, and we can’t afford to stuff it up.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the carry Wood and Morning's podcast from
News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be the motorsport legend. As I was saying, Greg
Murphy has slammed plans by the mot to remove the
full license practical test. A group of Hawks Bay teens
had spoken out saying they thought removing the full license
practical was a good idea because it would remove stress
and anxiety. They argue that the restricted license practical test
is already so difficult and complex it leaves the full

(00:33):
test unnecessary. Greg Murphy disagrees, saying that driving is possibly
the most dangerous thing people do every day. And Greg
Murphy joins me, now, very good morning to you.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
Hi, carry how are you?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
God, you've just stepped off a plane. I understand, Thank
you for taking my call.

Speaker 3 (00:49):
No, no problem at all, and I promim it's a
really important topic. I don't know what the article actually said,
but I didn't. I'm not a fan of removing the
full license test if there's nothing going to be put
in the in the gap between the restriction and the
full to improve an increase awareness and safety and drivers
by just removing it and not including or replacing that

(01:13):
period with a bunch of specific training modules, a lot
of it practical. Then we're just going to put people
on the roads and even in worse state unsafer, and
we'll have our numbers get even worse than what they are.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
Well, it was just almost to underscore your argument where
you said it's possibly the most dangerous thing people do
every day, and the culture and belief that an accident
won't happen. I'm not going to be the one where
my life has turned upside down at the age of
eighteen in a cruel irony, but it would have only
been a matter of days before another one turned up anyway,
but in a cruel irony. Within that with twenty four

(01:50):
hours since that article was published, an eighteen year old
has he's been driving. His brother's now paralyzed from the
waist down. His brother in law is seriously injured in
facing a really long road to recovery. The guy and
the other car that he hit, you know, as facing
a long road to recovery too, And he's eighteen years old,

(02:11):
and just an experience, it would seem.

Speaker 3 (02:15):
Yeah, it's definitely is. And you know, we've I've talked, seen,
We've done a lot of seminars around you know, the
brain at this age as well. And you know, and
I recall from being that age and not assisting risk,
you know, thinking, thinking in exactly that way that you
know it's not going to happen to me. And I
thought I was ten fall and bulletproof because I was

(02:37):
doing a bit of car racing and embraced carts all
my life, so it was even worse. But we are
not preparing, we're not assisting the risk, we're not making
good decisions because we don't know what they are we
at that age, especially young men, you know, we're designed
that way. We're going through a phase of really where
our frontal cordex is shut down and not actually working

(02:58):
very well. So it's a terrible time to start learning.
And so what do we do. We make it pretty good,
goddamn simple to actually end up in a position where
you're legally allowed to drive on the road without you know,
really any hard work at all or learning. So, you know,
there's a lot of people think that it is tough
to get a license, and I'm sure for some it is,

(03:20):
but you do the hard work, just like you do
hard work to gain all sorts of other you know, accreditations,
or you know, past tests and all that kind of
stuff to become qualified to go to university, all that
kind of thing. But when it comes to driving, it's like,
we want it easy. We want it as easy as
we possibly can to get a driver size, because then
it gives us freedom, and it gives us the ability

(03:41):
to actually, you know, be able to escape and go
and do things and have our freedom. And well, what's
the you know, the I just don't get that people
are thinking that way. And you've got statistics that that
proves that we're doing a terrible job. Two and a
half thousand, fifteen to twenty four year olds have died
in the last twenty five years on our owns. Ten

(04:05):
only ten thousand people have died on our roads in
that time, and the numbers are continuing to fluctuate. We're
already about twenty odd ahead of the same time last
year and in our road. So we're tracking again the
wrong way again. And in this discussion with the government
and the opportunity that's been presented to reassess and reevaluate

(04:29):
and redesign the licensing system, we shouldn't we should not
stuff this up. We really can't afford to stuff this up.
It's been given an opportunity. We haven't changed it since
nineteen eighty seven, so it's time to do something about
it and do it well.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
You'd like to see a national standard driving curriculum as
part of basic education in schools.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah, I would, And all the information is there, All
the stuff is already there. People have done at the
AA has got amazing stuff with their things and driving course.
The government have spent millions and millions and millions and
millions of dollars, the ACC's spent millions and millions. They've
all spent all this money and we're not not being
utilized properly. But driving is a practical task, so the
education is really important, giving people the time and through

(05:16):
schools free doing that, given that education, and then providing
maybe learners licenses through testing and that kind of thing.
But then you know, we've got to do practical training,
proper practical training. And like our driving instructors will all
agree with that, the things that they have to see
and have to deal with on a daily basis is
really quite unfair in many respects, and they don't have

(05:39):
the power, all the strengths to be able to actually,
you know, do the things they need to be doing,
because it's not actually part of what the design of
those those things are, but it needs to be needs
to be strengthened, and it needs to we need to
everybody needs to be going through some quite basic practical
skills training.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Couldn't agree more. I'll let you get on with your holiday.
I assume it's a holiday. Yeah it is, actually, well,
thank you for taking time out of it, and you
enjoy travel safely. And yeah, couldn't agree with your comments more.

Speaker 1 (06:11):
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