Tauranga principals have given the government’s proposal to raise the legal driving age to 16 the thumbs up.
Bethlehem College Principal Phillip Nash says while he might be supportive of the proposal his students are not happy about the idea because the school is located on the outskirts of Tauranga and students from all over the Bay of Plenty travel there.

Phillip acknowledges it will cause inconvenience for students but says statistics prove young people are over represented in vehicle accidents.
“Given the stats, it’s hard to argue against. It’s also getting us in line with other countries like Australia, where drivers have to be 17 in some states before they can start.”
Otumoetai College Principal Dave Randall supports raising the legal driving age and says students do not have the motor coordination and expertise to drive at 15.
He says a significant number of senior students drive cars to school, recording about 350 student cars one day.
“We have the youngest drivers in the world. There’s got to be some correlation between that and the number of crashes we have.”