Unlicensed Driving Among Urban and Rural Māori Drivers: New Zealand Drivers Study

Abstract

Objective: To determine the extent and type of self-reported unlicensed car driving and reasons given for driving before getting a license among Māori drivers in urban and rural areas of New Zealand.

Method: Participants included 824 people of self-identified Māori ethnicity. The ages ranged from 15 to 65 years, with the majority of participants aged 15 (37%), 16 (21%), or 17 (14%) years at the time of recruitment. Participants were recruited after passing the car driver's learner license theory test at a driver licensing agency or a learner license course or by the participant responding to a postcard placed at licensing agencies nationwide. All participants completed a self-administered questionnaire that included items for a wide range of personal, driving, and licensing-related variables. The cohort was not randomly selected but included as many eligible participants as possible, with recruitment taking place in urban and rural areas of both the North and South Islands of New Zealand.

Results: Unlicensed car driving experience was common, especially among rural participants (urban: 65%, rural: 83%). The nature and extent of driving experience and reasons for driving unlicensed were remarkably similar for urban and rural drivers, Females (47%) were more likely than males (37%) to report previous experience of a serious traffic crash. Being stopped by the police for driving unlicensed was not common (24% urban, 17% rural), but for those who had been stopped, the consequences varied by residential location.

Conclusions: Driving before obtaining a driver's license was common practice and the amount of driving extensive, for both rural and urban drivers. Furthermore, contrary to common perceptions in New Zealand, the need and opportunities for driving were similar, irrespective of place of residence. This suggests that similar issues may need to be addressed by both urban and rural Māori community road safety providers.

Keywords:

• Unlicensed driving
• Māori
• Urban/rural location

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The New Zealand Drivers Study (NZDS) is funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, the Accident Compensation Corporation, and the Road Safety Trust. The NZDS has also received support from the Driver License Registry of the New Zealand Transport Agency and the New Zealand Automobile Association. The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the community groups, especially on the east coast of the North Island and in South Auckland, and all of the research assistants throughout New Zealand who recruited all of the study participants. We also thank all those who are taking part in this study, without whom we would not have a study.

Notes

^a Percentage totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

^b Some response option categories were combined.

^a Percentage totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.

^a Includes those who have not driven on-road.

^b Percentage totals may not equal 100 due to rounding.