The New South Wales rollout of keys2drive - an innovative driver education program which will provide thousands of free driving lessons to learner drivers and their parents - has begun.

Today I joined learner drivers, parents and instructors at Concord High School to mark this milestone. Already the program has been successfully introduced into Tasmania and Victoria.

keys2drive is an important new, national road safety initiative. It provides extra incentive for novice drivers to get more on-the-road experience as well as assisting those supervising them to become better informed and more confident.

Specifically, keys2drive:

• Gives learner drivers and a parent or mentor a free professional driving lesson from an accredited instructor;


• Supports parents and mentors with instructional material and practical guidance on how to provide effective supervision and training to a learner driver;


• Provides an interactive website offering short instructional videos, educational games and the location of their nearest accredited driving instructor; and


• Delivers the country's first ever national accreditation scheme for driving instructors.

The program is a practical way of equipping young people with the skills they need for a lifetime of safer driving.

A young person is at greater risk of being involved in a fatal car accident. Despite only making up 16 per cent of motorists, nearly a quarter of all road deaths are aged 17 to 25.

We must do and are doing more to prevent these tragedies.

keys2drive has been developed by the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), the NRMA and other motoring clubs around Australia, with funding from the Federal Government and support from the driver training industry.

To find out more information about the program as well as to locate the nearest accredited instructor go to: http://www.keys2drive.com.au