Free driving lessons will be offered to Tauranga learner drivers as part of a new initiative by the NZ Automobile Association to help make roads safer.

The three month pilot project is offering a free professional lesson to all drivers in Tauranga and Hamilton who have had their learner licence for less than two months and are AA members, or the offspring of AA members.

A pilot programme giving a free professional driving lesson to leaner licence drivers is being offered in Tauranga and Hamilton.

After the pilot, AA plans to roll the programme out gradually across New Zealand as part of its commitment to bolster driving skills, improve behaviours and build positive attitudes behind the wheel.

AA Driving School head Nigel Clark says in 2012 the government introduced a tougher driver testing regime as one element of its Safer Journeys road safety strategy.

"The Safer Journeys framework is designed to create a safer road system increasingly free of death and serious injury, but the flipside of a tougher driver testing regime is a higher failure rate," says Nigel.

"The tougher test is about reducing the deaths and injuries on our roads. The higher testing standards mean learner drivers need to take more time to develop their skills and build a solid foundation for safe driving."

Nigel says professional driver training is the best way to meet the higher driving standards set by the government.

"Professional driver training provides the best opportunity to prepare during the period between getting a learner licence and sitting the practical driving test for a restricted licence."

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for New Zealanders aged between 16 and 20, and more than a third of all fatal road crashes involve a driver between the age of 16 and 24.

"Too many young people are dying on our roads and the AA's initiative is our way of helping to change this."

The programme is designed for novice drivers, which for the purposes of the pilot, are defined as people who have held their learner licence for no more than two months.

The hour long lesson will provide the student with an introduction on key driving skills, how to set up a car for driving, an explanation on instruments, gauges and vehicle controls, moving off, stopping, steering, gears and basic intersection types.

Nigel says driver education is a cornerstone of the AA and forms one of its strategic priorities.

"Our commitment to driver training reflects our belief that professional driver training improves the skill set and attitude of learner drivers, which will make them safer motorists.

"We expect to learn a lot with our three-month pilot programme and once it's complete, we'll have a better sense of how to conduct a national roll out of the programme for all AA members or their children."

Nigel says it is likely the national rollout will begin at the conclusion of the pilot programme and be available is most of the country where AA driving instructors are available by early 2014.

Free driving lesson eligibility:

- Living in Hamilton or Tauranga

- Hold a learner licence for less than two months

- A current AA Member or son/daughter of an AA member

To apply for a free driving lesson call 0800 223 199 or go online at aa.co.nz/free-driving-lessons