From Ls to P1s, and then P2s, you end up needing three different licences before you can get your full licence. Why is this so?

The answer is: to reduce car accidents. The aim is to make you more experienced as a driver. So, six steps (including three licences) are required until you are eligible for a full licence. This means that as your driving skills improve you ‘graduate’ up a level until you are holding a full, unrestricted licence in your hands. This is how different licences help reduce the amount of crashes on our roads.

The restrictions that L, P1 and P2 drivers have help keep them safe as they accumulate the skills needed to be safe drivers.

You may wonder if this is really necessary, but the statistics paint a worrying picture with P1 and P2 drivers involved in more accidents than other driving groups. Although making up just 8% of NSW drivers in 2016 they accounted for 15% of fatalities in crashes.

Drivers on their L plates are one of the safest groups on the roads, yet when they get their P plates they are suddenly at much higher risk of crashing.

The missing factor is experience. P platers have usually not learned enough to keep themselves safe. That is why we now have a licencing system that is in steps – to protect you.