Minister for Road Safety, Shane Rattenbury, has announced the details of a new driver competency and enhanced testing of knowledge of road rules focused on how to drive safely around vulnerable road users – pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.

This change means that a learner driver applying for a provisional licence will be required to demonstrate good observation skills, recognition and risk management and display appropriate and calm decision making to mitigate and avoid risk and harm to any vulnerable road users.

The learner will be required to perform the tasks throughout an entire assessment unaided by the licence examiner. They will also be required to drive responsibly recognising the potential harm they could cause to a person who is walking or riding a bicycle or motorcycle.

Training and assessment of the competency will be undertaken using a wide variety of different road and traffic conditions where vulnerable road users may be encountered, including roads with green bicycle lanes and marked bicycle lanes, driving through slow moving and stationary traffic where motorcyclists may be lane filtering and areas where there are high numbers of cyclists and pedestrians such as shared zones, town centres, group centres, aged care facilities and school zones.

The road rules test, which must be passed to obtain a learner licence, will also be enhanced to make sure learner drivers understand the road rules that protect vulnerable road users. 20 new questions have been added relating to vulnerable road users which will be incorporated in the road rules knowledge test. This section of the test will require 100% correct answers in order to pass.

The new driver competency will apply to people who obtain an ACT learner driver licence on or after 29 August 2016. For other drivers who are required to pass a practical driving assessment (for example some overseas drivers) the new competency will apply to those who book their assessment on or after 29 August 2016.

Vulnerable Road Users Fact Sheet