Learner driver survey & statistics 2021

*In April 2020, the decision was made by Tasmania’s Minister for Infrastructure and Transport to allow learners to progress to an L2 licence without a practical test, reducing the absolute minimums required. This was in effect for a period in 2020, and may have affected some government and survey statistics surrounding learner drivers in Tasmania^[11].

**In Victoria, anyone above the age of 21 is not required to fill out a logbook, or complete a minimum amount of hours^[3].

Considering only Queensland’s results for Class C (manual car) and Class CA (automatic car) driving tests, and omitting regions with less than 200 tests across 10 years, Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council emerges as having the highest pass rate for car drivers.

Again, only considering Class C and Class CA tests, and omitting regions with less than 200 tests, Queensland’s lowest pass rate belongs to Brisbane City North. Brisbane City South barely edged out its neighbouring locality, averaging a 57.9% pass rate from over 250,000 driving tests.

There has been a noticeable shift in preferences from 2011 to 2020, with more and more Queenslanders opting to get their automatic licences, rather than manual. 2014 was the last year when there were more manual tests conducted than automatic tests, and since then, those taking tests have continually preferred automatics.

However, the one consistent trend over the last 10 years has been in pass rates. Those taking a Class C (manual) test have always had a higher pass rate than those taking a Class CA (automatic) test. It seems that if you want to secure your licence on the first attempt in Queensland, taking the added steps of learning to drive a manual might improve your chances.

Over the last 10 calendar years, the overwhelming trend has been that pass rates are higher for Queensland learners who book through a driving school, rather than booking privately.

In each of the last 10 years, male learner drivers in New South Wales have had higher pass rates than female learner drivers. This certainly doesn’t reflect in the likelihood of being involved in an accident, with Budget Direct’s 2021 survey into car accidents revealing that male respondents had a higher rate of having been involved in an accident than female respondents.

Mirroring what occurred in Queensland Government data (seen in section 2.3), younger drivers are more likely to have automatic licences, whereas older drivers are more likely to have manual licences. This showed in the transition in popularity from manual to automatic tests, and shows in our survey results.

Female respondents were also more likely to have an automatic licence than male respondents. Also, Queensland and Western Australia were the states that favoured manual licences the most.

But most broadly, more Australians in our survey had manual licences than automatic licences.

Aligning with national laws, most respondents indicated they were required to complete a logbook of their driving as a learner to acquire their driver’s licence.

*This question only applied to participants who indicated they were required to fill out a logbook in 3.2.

As times move, it seems that Australians are becoming more accepting of exaggerating hours on a logbook. Younger respondents (18-24) had nearly a 40% rate of exaggerating – a rate that declined as participants got older.

Tasmania was also the most honest state, with roughly 6% of respondents suggesting they’d exaggerated time driving. However, they do have one of the nation’s lowest required hours (at 80 total, 15 at night), which was reduced further during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic (down to 50 total, no minimum at night)^[11].

Western Australia have some of the most relax laws regarding hour requirements as a learner, and yet, they had one of the highest rates of exaggerating hours in a logbook.

Respondents who currently hold an automatic licence were also more likely to exaggerate their time driving back on their learner logbook than those who went on to get manual licences.

Our results revealed that drivers who went on to get their manual licence had a fair higher rate of passing their written learner test on the first attempt than those with automatic licences. Males also responded as having higher rates of passing their written test on the first attempt, with nearly 82% not needing another go (compared to 76% of females).

While there may have been a gap between females and males on the written test, the gap between them on their practical driving test is almost indistinguishable. Over 94% of males surveyed passed their driving test on their first or second attempt, compared to 91% of females.

Those driving a manual had a far higher rate of passing their driving test on the first go, which correlates with the government-sourced data shown above (in 2.3).

Tasmanian respondents had the highest rates of passing their driving test on the first attempt, with almost 86% of those with licences only needing one test. New South Wales’ respondents had the lowest rates, with roughly 66% succeeding on the first attempt.

**Users were able to select multiple different errors, meaning results may not total 100%.

Failing to stop was indicated to be the most common error reported on practical driving tests across Australia. However, in New South Wales, failing to look over a shoulder proved to be the most common error.

Males reported higher rates of failing to stop, failing to look over the shoulder, failing to indicate, speeding, and experiencing collisions in their driving tests.

Otherwise, “other” was the most commonly selected response, which may have included errors such as parking, stalling, and others.