- Red P-plate drivers limited to carrying one passenger only from today
- Law seeks to minimise distractions for novice drivers in the six months after they secure their licences
- Curfew on red P-plate driving between midnight and 5am will continue to apply
From today, red P-plate drivers will be limited to carrying only one passenger in their vehicles at all times as part of new rules introduced by the Cook Labor Government to reduce death and serious injury on Western Australian roads.
The penalty for breaching red P-plate passenger restrictions is a $200 fine and two demerit points, which is the same as for driving during the existing red P-plate curfew.
The new restriction applies to all existing and future red P-plate drivers from today, following the tragic deaths of young people on WA roads, including passengers Tom Saffioti and Nick Campo.
Young WA drivers aged 17-19 have the highest KSI (Killed or Seriously Injured) rate at 107 per 100,000 population compared to other age groups (Western Australian Road Fatalities and Serious Injuries 2023 report).
Statistics and recent tragedies on our roads have also shown that novice drivers are at higher risk of crashing when they are distracted.
The new one-person passenger restriction aims to alleviate this problem and also bring Western Australia into line with other jurisdictions.
Exemptions from the passenger restrictions rule will only apply if:
- one of the passengers is an experienced driver who has held an ordinary C-class licence for at least four years; or
- other passengers are immediate family members; or
- if additional passengers are in the vehicle as a necessary requirement of the driver's employment. For this to apply, a letter from the driver's employer must be carried by the red P-plate driver for presentation on request.
The Government recently launched the 'Red plate. One mate.' campaign to inform all existing and future red P-plate drivers and their parents about the new rules.
The campaign will boost awareness of the new law through direct mail, social media, radio, digital audio and video, and outdoor advertising until the end of January 2025.
As stated by Road Safety Minister David Michael:
"Every death on our roads is a tragedy, and we know inexperienced drivers are particularly vulnerable when they get behind the wheel.
"Sadly, we know WA's youngest drivers are over-represented in serious crashes on our roads.
"This new law is an important opportunity to directly address the risk of distraction new drivers might experience from driving with multiple passengers in their first six months of having a provisional licence, which is the riskiest period in our driving careers.
"Restricting red P-platers to carrying one passenger was a key theme to emerge from the recent road safety roundtable which received input from a range of road safety experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience of road trauma."
