Almost 3,000 newly arrived migrants and disadvantaged young Victorians, including those in Hume and Whittlesea will receive free road safety education and professional driving lessons.
Roads and road safety minister Ben Carroll said the state government programs will deliver more than 1,000 driving lessons across the state and almost 600 new Victorians can take part in the program.
“Everyone deserves the chance to learn to drive, gain independence and feel confident on our roads – these programs ensure all road users, regardless of their path, can head out on the roads safely,” Mr Carroll said.
The program supports recently arrived migrants and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds aged over 21 years to increase their road safety knowledge, awareness, and skills as part of the $1.5 million Community Road Safety Grants Program.
Participants receive five core education sessions which address road rules, driver behaviour, pedestrian, and cyclist safety, as well as up to two paid professional driving lessons for participants who hold a licence.
On top of this, as part of the TAC L2P Program, learner drivers who are unable to access a supervising driver or vehicle to accrue their minimum 120 hours of driver training will receive up to seven free professional driving lessons – in addition to a mentor and access to a vehicle.
This is expected to provide free, supervised driving experience to more than 2,249 participants and up to 16,017 professional driving lessons this year alone.
This all supports the Victorian Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030, which aims to halve road deaths and reduce serious injuries by 2030 and eliminate road deaths by 2050.
Details: vicroads.vic.gov.au.
