Victoria: Stop Waiting. Protect young drivers' lives.
The issue
“If this many kids were killed every year doing anything else, it would be a national disaster.” Lisa Skaife, Founder & CEO, Road Safety MATTERS (ACNC registered NFP).
In 2025, 291 people died on Victorian roads. 46 of them were aged 16 to 25 (Source: TAC). Hundreds more are left with lifelong injuries every year.
The cost of inaction
Road trauma costs Victoria an estimated $7.8 billion a year, more than $21 million every day. One young person left quadriplegic costs around $10 million over their lifetime.
The cost of action
A 12-month simulation-based driver training trial in Victorian schools would cost $2.55 million: less than three hours of Victoria’s annual road trauma bill.
Driver error is a factor in over 70% of road deaths, and over 90% of crashes in a driver’s first three years. In 50 years, cars, roads, enforcement and emergency care have all been transformed. The way we teach young people to drive has barely changed.
In 2021, a Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry recommended a 12-month trial of simulation-based driver training (Recommendation 24). The trial was never run. Instead, the Government relied on a literature review, and more than half of the research it drew on is now over 10 years old, in a field where technology has advanced exponentially. Government needs an evidence base before it acts, and the only way to build one is with a trial.
Simulation doesn’t replace real-world driving; it complements it, building cognitive skills and lets young drivers practise dangerous scenarios safely before they get on the road.
From the initial recommendation in March 2021 to now, 251 people aged between 16-25 have died on Victorian roads (Source TAC). How many more young lives will continue to be lost whilst we wait to conduct a trial to establish the benefits of simulation training?
This petition calls on whoever forms the next Victorian Government to run a 12-month simulation-based driver training trial in at least 100 secondary schools in 2027, with independent evaluation.
Road safety is above party politics. Sign and share to help protect young lives. Run the trial.
Lisa Skaife - Founder/CEO, Road Safety MATTERS (ACNC registered NFP).
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The issue
“If this many kids were killed every year doing anything else, it would be a national disaster.” Lisa Skaife, Founder & CEO, Road Safety MATTERS (ACNC registered NFP).
In 2025, 291 people died on Victorian roads. 46 of them were aged 16 to 25 (Source: TAC). Hundreds more are left with lifelong injuries every year.
The cost of inaction
Road trauma costs Victoria an estimated $7.8 billion a year, more than $21 million every day. One young person left quadriplegic costs around $10 million over their lifetime.
The cost of action
A 12-month simulation-based driver training trial in Victorian schools would cost $2.55 million: less than three hours of Victoria’s annual road trauma bill.
Driver error is a factor in over 70% of road deaths, and over 90% of crashes in a driver’s first three years. In 50 years, cars, roads, enforcement and emergency care have all been transformed. The way we teach young people to drive has barely changed.
In 2021, a Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry recommended a 12-month trial of simulation-based driver training (Recommendation 24). The trial was never run. Instead, the Government relied on a literature review, and more than half of the research it drew on is now over 10 years old, in a field where technology has advanced exponentially. Government needs an evidence base before it acts, and the only way to build one is with a trial.
Simulation doesn’t replace real-world driving; it complements it, building cognitive skills and lets young drivers practise dangerous scenarios safely before they get on the road.
From the initial recommendation in March 2021 to now, 251 people aged between 16-25 have died on Victorian roads (Source TAC). How many more young lives will continue to be lost whilst we wait to conduct a trial to establish the benefits of simulation training?
This petition calls on whoever forms the next Victorian Government to run a 12-month simulation-based driver training trial in at least 100 secondary schools in 2027, with independent evaluation.
Road safety is above party politics. Sign and share to help protect young lives. Run the trial.
Lisa Skaife - Founder/CEO, Road Safety MATTERS (ACNC registered NFP).
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Petition created on 11 November 2026