$26 Fee for P-Platers to drive Cruze Turbo!!!!

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P-platers see red over fees
Toby Hagon
March 26, 2011
P-PLATERS who drive smaller and economical cars are being charged a fee that does not apply to high-powered performance vehicles, including a new electric sports car that is faster than some Ferraris.

The Roads and Traffic Authority will impose a $26 fee on P-platers who seek an exemption to their licence conditions to drive the least powerful version of the new Holden Cruze.

At the same time the RTA and other road authorities allow the diminutive Tesla Roadster into the hands of inexperienced drivers.


The all-electric Tesla can accelerate to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds, keeping pace with the $900,000-odd, V12-powered flagship Ferrari FF that will arrive in Australia early next year.

Electric vehicles are automatically approved for P-platers, including vehicles such as the Tesla - described as "the world's only electric supercar" and which "accelerates faster than most sports cars".

P-platers in NSW are banned from driving petrol engines with eight or more cylinders, turbocharged or supercharged cars and various high-performance six-cylinder models.

But the regulations have been criticised for failing to keep pace with vehicle design and new technology. They also unfairly penalise P-platers by forcing them to apply for the $26 exemption on some turbocharged but low-powered vehicles.

The Cruze is the latest car to be caught in the controversial novice-driver bans introduced by the RTA without consultation with the automotive industry.

The least powerful model of the Cruze has a 1.4-litre turbo and only 103kW of power, less than many competitors that P-platers are allowed to drive. It is the first locally made small car in more than 10 years and received a $149 million federal government grant.

The RTA did not address questions from The Sun-Herald about whether it was fair to require the exemption for less powerful models.

It did say, however, that ''provisional drivers are required to carry and produce an exemption letter for certain high-powered vehicles that have not been given an across-the-board exemption''.

The Sun-Herald reported last year that the RTA allows P-platers to drive all diesel cars, including cars that have significantly more power than most V8s, with an exemption letter.

The then roads minister, David Campbell, said that the government would be "monitoring" high-powered diesels and hybrids. But the RTA's policy stands.

Austroads, the association of Australian and New Zealand road transport and traffic authorities, is now working with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries to recommend changes to the policy in the next few months.

This could involve a return to the power-to-weight ratio method of calculating the vehicles considered inappropriate for novice drivers.

''The RTA will give strong consideration to any recommendations made by Austroads relating to this review and will also give consideration to the requirement to pay a fee and an exemption identifier for lower powered turbocharged vehicles," the RTA said.

The chamber's chief executive, Andrew McKellar, welcomed any change to the scheme, which he describes as a "relic".

"It was a dumb idea when it was first invented," he said.