{"id":558729,"date":"2026-08-04T12:56:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/558729\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T12:56:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:56:24","slug":"aa-identifies-the-concerning-knowledge-gaps-in-nz-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/558729\/","title":{"rendered":"AA identifies the ‘concerning knowledge gaps’ in NZ drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kiwi motorists have big “knowledge gaps” on navigating roundabouts, using bus lanes, and interacting with cyclists, a recent study has found. <\/p>\n

The Automobile Association study asked 535 licensed drivers 24 questions about road rules and driving behaviour. The majority of participants answered less than 70% correctly. <\/p>\n

The average score was 16.3 correct answers, or 68%. The lowest score was 5\/24, while the highest was 23\/24. A score of 90% is required to pass a learner licence test in New Zealand. <\/p>\n

AA called it a “concerning gap in driver knowledge”. <\/p>\n

Most common unknowns<\/p>\n

Participants were most commonly stumped on questions about indicating at roundabouts, driving around bus lanes, and sharing the road with cyclists. <\/p>\n

\"Roundabout<\/p>\n

Roundabout in Royal Oak, Auckland. (Source: Google Satellite)<\/p>\n

Give way rules, where respondents scored best, still had an average of 80% correct answers. <\/p>\n

Lower knowledge was “more evident” for foreign licence holders and New Zealand drivers who lived overseas. The 10 respondents with a valid overseas licence scored an average of 11.5 correct answers. <\/p>\n

No sign of improving with experience<\/p>\n

The survey also found that driving experience had little effect on respondents’ knowledge. The majority averaged around 16 correct answers. Those who held licences for between 16 and 20 years averaged the lowest, at 15.3 correct answers. <\/p>\n

“People who had been driving for more than four decades scored no better or worse than those who had held a licence for only a year,” AA said. <\/p>\n

The study found lower knowledge of newer rules, less common traffic control devices, and more complex or changing driving scenarios. <\/p>\n

AA said gaps in knowledge could lead to misunderstandings and actions that contribute to unsafe driving and crashes. <\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A crash scene investigator. (Source: rnz.co.nz)<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day there are incidents that cause near-misses or minor crashes because road users misunderstand each other or someone didn’t know the rules,” AA research and road safety manager Dylan Thomsen said. <\/p>\n

‘Misunderstandings and avoidable incidents’<\/p>\n

\u201cOur roads work best when everyone knows the rules \u2013 there are fewer misunderstandings, less frustration and fewer avoidable incidents.”<\/p>\n

Thomsen suggested a new scheme where drivers take an optional test when renewing their licence, encouraged by a discounted renewal fee. <\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently licence renewal is an administrative process with a new photo, updating details and so on. The next Government can do something far more useful for drivers and road safety at this time, by giving people the option to do an online refresher module in return for a lower renewal fee.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s reward drivers for doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that while boosting knowledge won’t prevent every crash, a “better understanding of the rules could help prevent thousands of avoidable incidents every day”. <\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including a cold snap closes roads, mothers plead for help to save stranded sons, and Ariana Grande\u2019s big decision. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kiwi motorists have big “knowledge gaps” on navigating roundabouts, using bus lanes, and interacting with cyclists, a recent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[111,43,139,69,112],"class_list":["post-558729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}