By JESSE GRAHAM
A PROGRAM that helps youths build their driving experience will continue in the Yarra Ranges for another four years, after a funding announcement earlier this month.
On 8 March, Road Safety Minister, Luke Donnellan, announced the L2P Learner Driver Mentor Program would receive government funding for the next four years.
The program pairs young people with driver ‘mentors’, who take them on driving lessons and help them to build their 120 hours of experience where they may not have been able to do so before.
It has been so popular in the Yarra Ranges that there is currently a waiting list for young people to take part.
Yarra Ranges mayor, Maria McCarthy, said the program was “immensely important and successful” in the area, and that she was thrilled that the funding would continue.
“It helps disadvantaged young people overcome some of the barriers they face, by helping them get a licence, which, in turn, can help with employment and avoid social isolation,” she said.
Dandenong Ranges resident and L2P mentor, Andrew Hicks, said the program was essential for young people who might not be able to get proper learner driving experiences at home.
“I think it’s fantastic that there is a program that enables kids to get the hours they need before getting their licence,” he said.
“To just have the requirement to get 120 hours without having some sort of program available, that would not be the way.”
One of his students, Emma Graham, agreed, and said she would only have half an hour in her logbook if she couldn’t be part of the program – she currently has 74.
Around 3000 people across the state make use of the L2P program, with 63 programs run across 71 of 79 municipalities.
Yarra Ranges Council, which runs the L2P program through its youth services branch, is looking for volunteer drivers to be mentors in the program.
For more information, call Yarra Ranges Youth Services on 9294 6716.
