GOLDFIELDS learner drivers will sit the same practical examination as others in the state after Department for Planning and Infrastructure (DPI) officers took over the role from police this week.

The move is a bid to provide consistency for learner drivers across the State.

Licensing general manager Neville Binning said changes provided an even playing field for all people attempting to gain a driver’s licence.

“The move from WA Police will mean that all learners will now undertake the same driving assessment,” Mr Binning said.

“This single State-wide approach will increase consistency in driver standards as all drivers will be required to display the same level of skill before taking to our roads.”

Mr Binning said the change is the last step in a two-year transitional handover arrangement which will free up local police to concentrate on more front-line policing duties.

“By July, police will only conduct driving assessments in agreed isolated areas and at remote Indigenous communities where multi-functional policing facilities are located,” he said.

Learner drivers in the Goldfields who wish to book a practical driving assessment can contact their nearest DPI region office, nearest participating licensing agent or call the Licensing Contact Centre on 13 11 56.

The practical exam change is the first amendment learner drivers face in an overhaul of the system.

The State Government is introducing the first wave of a series of important measures to help novice drivers keep safe on the roads.

New legislation and regulations to come into effect next week also include learner drivers gaining more experience while driving with a supervisor, and provisional licence drivers (P-platers) gradually introduced to risky situations as their experience grows.

Changes to the demerit point system for novice drivers will follow later in the year.

In 2006, 67 people aged between 17 and 24 were killed on Western Australian roads.

Although this figure improved in 2007, young people generally make up around 30 percent of road deaths even though they represent just 14 percent of all licence holders in WA.