Youth Driver Navigator Programme
The Blue Light Youth Driver Navigator programme is available in selected areas and is designed to help support young people to ultimately get their full drivers licence.
It is especially designed for those young people who may not have access to the right support to be able to learn to drive, e.g. a vehicle or someone to teach them to drive.
The programme coordinator will manage the learner drivers through the three phases of the graduated driver licensing system; Learners, Restricted and Full Licences.
Each learner driver is matched with a volunteer driver navigator who is trained and supported by the programme coordinator and a professional driving instructor.
Youth are supported by:
- Road Code Tuition
- Support to ensure that they turn up to the testing centre with the correct paperwork and identification.
- Picking youths up and taking them to driving tests.
- Booking with a trained driving instructor for initial lessons, then matching with a volunteer navigator to take youths for weekly driving practice.
- Providing late-model warranted and registered vehicles for driving practice, equipped with GPS and internal and external cameras for the safety of both the student and driver navigator.
- Support with the costs of each stage of the licence testing.
- Defensive driving lessons.
The programme outcomes for the learner driver are:
- Safer drivers on the road and reduced road trauma and associated costs.
- Safer driver habits role modelled to family and peers.
- Reduced numbers of offences on the road especially for breaches of license conditions.
- Opening future opportunities for employment and training.
- Improved behaviours through positive adult mentoring and support referred to as navigating.
- The ability for graduates overtime to return to the program themselves as navigators and continue the cycle of community giving.
Volunteers
The demand for this life changing programme is huge and Blue Light is committed to ensuring that we do what we can to ensure safer young drivers on our NZ roads.
One of the main barriers to the growth of this programme is enough volunteers to spend time with the students sharing their driving knowledge and giving them the opportunity for regular well supervision driving practice.
Our volunteers are amazing and are vital to the success of the Blue Light Youth Driver Navigator programme.
If you know of anyone who is interested please contact our national coordinator on blydn@bluelight.co.nz or phone 0800 BLUE LIGHT.
Results
Since the launch of the programme in 2018 over 3,000 students have enrolled in the programme, with Blue Light assisting students to achieve the following: more the 1,600 Learner Licence’s, 1,100 Restricted Licence’s and 350 Full Licence’s.
Feedback from students, families and referrers has been amazing with many reports of the life-changing effect gaining a driver’s licence has had on these young people and their families.
79% of the youth on our programme have reported that because of them passing a licence on this programme, other family members have been inspired to sit their licence.
Sponsors and Supporters
