I am pleased to be here today with Humber Valley MHA Rick Woodford, Chair of the Select Committee on the Property and Casualty Insurance Industry to outline Bill 29, Government=s Graduated Driver Licencing Bill.

I would also like to acknowledge the presence of Deputy Chief Ches Oliver and Sgt. John Hill of the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary; Inspector Craig McLoughlan and Cpl. Joe Sobol of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police; Ray O=Neill, President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Safety Council; and Don Forgeron, Vice-President, Atlantic of the Insurance Bureau of Canada.

The Graduated Driver Licencing Bill received First Reading in the House of Assembly on November 17, 1998 and it is expected to receive Second Reading today.

The intent of this Bill is consistent with a unanimous recommendation made by the Select Committee of the House of Assembly on Property and Casualty Insurance.

In its report, the Select Committee said that novice drivers, regardless of age, were significantly over represented in motor vehicle accidents and that teenage drivers were involved in a disproportionately high number of accidents compared to other age groups. Graduated licencing, the report stated, is the solution.

I can assure the Chair of the Select Committee that Government is extremely pleased with the work that the committee has done and that Government expects to act on other recommendations in the very near future.

There is widespread public support for a graduated licencing program: from the community at large; our police forces, our health and safety organizations, and the insurance industry. The presence of officials from these groups at our news conference today attests to that.

This Bill calls for the new graduated drivers licencing program to be introduced effective January 1, 1999.

Other Canadian provinces have already taken such action with remarkable results. I would like to speak briefly about the Ontario experience. The program was implemented in Ontario in April 1994 and an interim report that tracked data from 1993 to 1996 showed that, overall, collisions by novice drivers went down dramatically by 31 per cent and that fatality and injury rates among novice drivers went down by 24 per cent.

From Ontario's perspective, graduated licencing has meant -- during the period of the study -- more than 900 fewer visits to hospital emergency rooms; 2,000 fewer days in hospital for collision victims; 800 fewer ambulance calls; and, 13,000 fewer hours of police time required to investigate collisions.

The Ontario Government estimated that $34 million was saved as a result of reductions in emergency room visits; hospital days; ambulance calls; police time; and, property damage to motor vehicles.

According to a recent study of Newfoundland and Labrador accident statistics, 16.5 per cent of all fatalities -- over a six-year period -- involved drivers with less than two years of driving experience.

I am confident that our proposed program will save lives. It is designed to help novice drivers acquire, on a gradual basis, the knowledge and skill needed to safely operate their passenger vehicles, light trucks or motorcycles.

I have distributed detailed information on the various Classes and Levels associated with the Graduated Drivers Licencing Program but I would like to take a few moments to highlight certain aspects of this program.

This program enables new drivers to gain experience in conditions where the risk of having a collision is low. For example, there is a section in the Bill which requires Level I novice drivers to be accompanied by a licenced driver with at least four years of experience. There is a section which does not allow Level I novice drivers to drive between midnight and 5 a.m. Under the Bill, there is also zero tolerance for alcohol for novice drivers.

When Government first announced its intention to introduce this Bill we gave the public a general outline of the direction in which we were headed. Since then, we have made some modifications to our proposed legislation to ensure a smooth transition from the current program to the new one. We have distributed information about these changes.

I look forward to the introduction of this program. It is undoubtedly a move in the right direction. A move that will provide our novice drivers, as well as other drivers, with a greater degree of safety when travelling on our roads.

In closing, I would like to mention that our department has an ongoing Driver Examiner School Visitation Program. During future visits to schools, driver examiners will distribute program brochures and provide an overview of this program.

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