Private Supervisors of Learner Drivers and Queensland’s Graduated Driver Licensing System: How Important Are They? Lyndel Bates Professor Barry Watson Dr Mark King

Aim Document the experiences of the supervisors of Queensland learner drivers after the changes made to the graduated driver licensing system in mid-2007

Key changes Minimum age reduced from 16.5 to 16 years Must obtain 100 hours of supervised practice 1 hour of professional instruction equals 3 hours of private supervision (up to 10 hours)

Method Combination of convenience and snowball 228 participants Internet survey Open between July 2009 and May 2010 Approximately minutes to complete

Supervisors Gender: 46.9% male, 53.1% female Age: M = 40.22, sd = Relationship: –Mother: 34.2% –Father: 16.7% –Stepmother: 3.1% –Stepfather: 2.2% –Other: 43.9%

Primary supervisor Were you the primary supervisor for this person? Total: Yes 63.2%, No 36.8% Parents: Yes 70.7%, No 29.3% Non parents: Yes 55.4%, No 44.6% Statistically significant: X 2 (1) = 5.76, p =.02, φ =.16

No. of learners How many learners have you supervised in the past 12 months? Total: M = 1.44, sd =.96 Parents: M = 1.47, sd = 1.19 Non parents: M = 1.41, sd =.65 Not statistically significant: t (226) =.50, p =.62

No. of hours Approximately, how many hours did you supervise the learner for? Total: M = 79.64, sd = Parents: M = 68.59, sd = Non parents: M = 91.08, sd = Not statistically significant: t (226) = , p =.06

Record in logbook Was the practice time recorded in a logbook? Statistically significant: X 2 (3) = 12.08, p =.01, φ =.23 Parent (%)Non parentTotal (%) All practice59 (50.9)34 (30.4)93 (40.8) Most practice44 (37.9)51 (45.5)95 (41.7) Some practice9 (7.8)19 (17.0)28 (12.3) No practice4 (3.4)8 (7.1)12 (5.3)

Accurate logbook How accurate were the hours in your learner’s logbook? Statistically significant: X 2 (2) = 13.1, p =.001, φ =.24 Parent (%)Non parent (%)Total (%) Not accurate11 (9.5)19 (17)30 (13.2) Neutral20 (17.2)37 (33)57 (25) Accurate85 (73.3)56 (50)141 (61.8)

Professional instructor Did your learner spend any time with a professional instructor? Total: Yes 82.5%, No 17.5% Parents: Yes 83.6%, No 16.4% Non parents: Yes 81.3%, No 18.8% Not statistically significant: X 2 (1) =.22, p =.64, φ =.03

Guidance Did you receive guidance from anywhere regarding the supervision of learner drivers? Not statistically significant: X 2 (1) = 1.74, p =.19, φ =.09 Parent (%)Non parent (%)Total (%) Friends27 (23.3)34 (30.4)61 (26.8) Gov. website15 (12.9)16 (14.3)31 (13.6) Professional driving instructor 23 (19.8)25 (22.3)48 (21.1) No advice52 (44.8)60 (53.6)112 (49.1) Parent (%)Non parent (%)Total (%) Yes64 (55.2)52 (46.4)116 (50.9) No52 (44.8)60 (53.6)112 (49.1)

Conclusions Parents more likely to be primary supervisor Private supervisors provide significant amount of supervised practice Seek to record practice accurately and honestly Majority of learners have professional lessons as well

Conclusions (2) Supervisors report that majority of learners have professional lessons as well Approximately ½ of supervisors did not seek advice Some sought advice from friends, government website or professional driving instructors

Conclusions (3) GDL systems implicitly encourage the involvement of parents and other supervisors Other non-parental supervisors appear to play a significant role Need to more overtly encourage and support private supervisors including non- parents