42 - Friday, April 17, 1998 ~ North Shore News

north shore news

Graduated licences: it’s about time

WOW. The Big GLP.
The Graduated Licence
Program.

After years of prattling on
about the need for better
standards in driver training,
ICBC (which now encom-
passes the Motor Vehicle
Branch) has finally come
around to my way of think-
ing. Sort of.

A new, owo-tiered, learn-
ing driver system comes into
effect August 1, 1998.

The Graduated Licence
Program (GLP) is to be
phased in starting May i, but
not fully actualized for
another two years or so.

Mike Farnworth, Minister
responsible for ICBC stated
fast week a commitment to
“tightening up testing,
improve driver training and
extending the Learner's
Licence period.”

While the licensing
changes look pretty dramatic
on paper, to have them dis-
sected reveals a few moder-
ate, yet effective revisions
(and a few rough edges that,
we assume, will be smoothed
over in the nexe couple of
years).

Essentially, the GLP
breaks the old “two-year
Probationary” licence —
which all new drivers cur-
rently acquire first — into its
basic components.

First off, new drivers still °
need to apply for a Learner
Driver Licence (LDL) and
pass the same old written
knowledge test, including a
road-sign test, and an eye
exam.

Changed is the fact that a
learner driver may NOT take
the practical road test for a
full six months, the previous
wait being a mere 30 days.

Also, the new LDL will
be'a one-year, digital photo
ID, as opposed to the old-
tangled six-month-interim on
a yellow piece of paper that
nobody ever accepted as legal
identification even though
they were legally obligated
to.

The GLP is sure to aggra-
vate the majority of teens
who've already waited a near-
unbearable sixteen years to
drive. However, the desired
effect is a good one.

Besides, tecns make up
only part of the New Driver
populace.

Either way, the six-month

Shaun
Conlin

signals

period means more practical
road experience with the
benefit of an experienced
“co-pilot” guiding the new
driver’s behavior for a longer
period.

The GLP does not
address the fact that the
required “co-pilot” may or
may not be a bonehead;
merely that he or she hold a
valid licence and be an adult.
Te’s always been that way.

To offset this porential
disaster-in-the-making,
Learner Drivers may not
have more than owo passen-
gers with them whilst learn-
ing the fine art of driving.

New, toa, for the learning
driver are certain restrictions
designed to minimize the
likelihood of drastic errors.
How these restrictions were
decided upon is beyond me
but they sound pretty posi-
tive on paper.

New drivers may only
motor about berween 5 a.m.
and midnight which, ironi-

To Apply (No Change} |
®@ Minimum 16 year age

requirement

B Written Knowledge Test
@ Road Sign Knowledge
Test

B Vision Screening (cye-
sight test)

Learner Stage (Changed)

® Mandatory six month
wait before practical road
testing

@ 0% Blood/Aicohol level
@ New Driver signage

@ Time restricccons (5 a.m.
to midnight only)

-B Two passenger limit (to
include adult “co-pilor”)

Intermediate Stage (New}

@ Mandatory 18 month
duration

@ Limited to Class 5 for
duration

0% Blood/Alcohol level
@ Novice Driver Signage

cally, is when most of the car
crashes are happening. Also,
learners must display a “New
Driver” sign to let other dri-
vers know they need to be
patient.” Yeah, right.

Here’s the rough edged
reality of it: Any sign
announcing potential inepti-
tude merely causes other dri-
vers to engage in fits of
aggression, horn honking,
and dramatic swerving
around known novices.

Finally, the owner of an
LDL may not have any alco-
hol in their system when dri-
ving.

Learners caught can also
face a fine and prolonged
wait for the road test. Just
don't drink and drive, OK?

So, new drivers are being
encouraged to accumulate 9.
lot of knowledge and experi-
ence before the big day: the
road test.

Tt should be noted that
there is still nothing in the
new legislation to stop new
drivers from spending a mea-
gre 30 days learning to drive,
but they will still have to
spend an additional five
months sitting on their
sparking new ID.

Assuming a learner passes
his or her initial road test
(same test they use at pre-
sent), the learner enters the
brand new “graduate” phase
of the GLP.

For a full 18 months, the
Intermediate Stage, new dri-
vers will be considered
“novice” with a new digital
photo ID stating as much.

Novice drivers will have
to announce to the general
public by signage their rook-
ichood (which irks me in the
same way thar “new” signs
do), though it is probable
thac such signs may be of the
radio-station window sticker
variety and merely read °N”
for Novice.

Graduated Learners are
free to roam the streets as
they mayyat any time and
with as many passengers as
they want, bur che 0%
blood/atcohol resiziction still
applies.

After this ]8-month peri-
od, 2 novice is road tested
for a final time before
becoming a full-fledged
“experienced” dnver with a
Class 5, five-year-renewable
driver’s licence

One of the rough edges I
mentioned earlier rears its

ugly sharp head here. The
final road cest has ver to be
designed, We assume it will
be more strict and more
comprehensive — not to
mention more expensive —
and that is not at all a bad
thing except ICBC only has
18 months from August fro
figure out how to test a so-
called “experienced” driver.

While the Corporation
freely admits the implemen-
tation of the GLP is an
ongoing, malleable process, a
problem lies in the fact that
while drivers who have been
encouraged to gain experi-
ence do so, they will also
have crossed the linc
between the driver who can
pass a by-the-book road test
and the driver who can actu-
ally drive here in Bonehead
City.

In essence, they'll drive
like everybody else yer be
required to exhibit text-book
havits on one special, second
test day. Or, a reality-based
tesi will have to be designed.

I only call this a short-
coming because ICBC has, in
effect, designed a program
that will demand an examina-
tion of a persun’s abilities to
handle the reality of tod2y’s
driving. I don’t think that
can be done.

“Experience” is an intan-
gible, how do vou grade it?

Not to mentic. that some
driving experience is to be

0, Financing
lo ALL MODELS

up to 48 mo., 0.A.€.

fi
’
¢

or el

98 Grand Caravans,

gleaned from an arbitrary
unknown — “the co-pilot.”

The final rough edge —
so abrasive itl cur flesh — is
the new amendment to the
new Learner Driver stage.

Learners may cut the six
month waiting period in half’
if thy take an “approved dri-
ver training course.”

Currently, there is no
such thing as an approved
driving schol, though cur-
riculuras, programs and
accreditation plans are
already in the works.

This is an ENORMOUS
can of worms. I'll slither
through it over the next
week or two.

In the meantime, we can
give ICBC a nod for another
program as far-secing — and
hopefully as cifective — as
the good old
Drinking/Driving
Counterattack and the
Buckle-Up campaigns.

The bug infested, worm- J
ridden GLP has as much ;
merit even ifit’s left asis
(which it won't be). And in
the end, years fram now,
when all the boneheads have
grown ld and gone to thar. :
big off-ramp in the sky, all--
that will remain will be cour: -¥
teous, safe and efficient dri-
vers.

Could happen. Be safe.

TUNE-UP SPECIALISTS ©
AirCare ~ Gov. Certified #50222 —
B.C.A.A. - A.R.A. APPROVED CENTRE =:

YELLOW PAGES

299-9000
L7i4isis..

ee

O Alloy wheeis
W Running boards
& Privacy glass
W Air-conditioning

b.} Award-winning AirCore :

Technicians available fo
service your car or light:

“Our 40th Year” |

TALKING Afslimatesx ALSO COMPLETE
Consultation MECHANICAL REPAIRS

985-7455

Guoranteed 1] year.

‘97 Dodge Stratu

+ ~ Buy a Discovery, get a canoe

‘AS the summer season beckons, afi-
cionados of canoeing to the coun-
try’s sparkling lakes and steams,

““®* purchasers of the popular four-wheel

drive family-friendly Discovery can
choose to outfit the vehicle with an
exciting adventure pack.

The value-laden offer includes a brush bar,
rear ladder, carrier and, most exciting of all, a
newly developed, elegant wooden cance. Land
Rover Canada ‘wil’ offer the adventure pack
until June 30. ;

A joint venture between Ontario-based
Evergreen Canoe Co. and machining company
LNR, the clegant cedar craft is called Voyager.
Ic is the first wood clearglass canoe that is pro-
” duced using a special hull-moulding technique
‘and results in an unbelicvably beautiful vessel
that combines traditional crafismanship with

modern innovation and production capacity.

While the retail value of the adventure pack
is $4,100, it is being offered for only $2,900.
The 4,8 metre canoe has a 93 centimetre
beam, 33 cm depth and 51 em bow height.
Weighing only 24 kilograms thanks to its three
coats of epoxy resin over the six-ounce
Fiberglass covering inside and outside the hull,
the Voyager has a 363-kilogram capacity with
20 centimetres of freeboard.

Adding even more value to the program, a
special lease offer will be available on all new
Discoverys. ,

Land Rover Canada, Inc. is a subsidiary of
Land Rover North America, [nc., a member of
the Rover Greup of Companies, importing
vehicles manufactured by Land Rover, Solihull,
England. The Rover Group is 3 wholly owned
subsidiary of the BMW Group of Munich,
Germany.

ae) Air conritioning . ®
W Automatic trans § 99
W 2.0L, 132 hp engine q /mo

Be 4 door, 14” wheels/preinium tires

W Air conditioning
Automatic

Power windows WI
& Power locks

e Brand new

Chrysler’s discount superstcre SU,

“Net of RDA based on 36 mo lease. 4) OP $2090, TP $9254, B) DP $5225, Th 512,389 incl. tax, O.A.C,