A Bendigo driving instructor has proposed a radical rethink of L-plater education, recommending compulsory, professional lessons for new drivers and calling on parents to take a back seat in their children’s learning.  

Former police officer Greg Penno, who runs Dragon City Driving School, said learners should be required to have at least six lessons with a professional instructor before qualifying to sit their probationary licence exam.

He said fewer students had sought out his services since 2007 when learner drivers were mandated to complete 120 hours of supervised driving before taking the test, taking lessons from their parents instead. 

But learning solely from their families meant students missed out on important lessons, Mr Penno said. 

“I believe they (L-platers) are not really getting the safety message because they’re going to drive fast if Mum and Dad drive fast, they’re going to talk on the phone if Mum and Dad talk on the phone,” he said.  

While he believed young people were sometimes unfairly labelled unsafe drivers, he said many continued to risk injury and death on the road, with mobile phone use a particular concern.  

“There’s always a percentage who will push the boundaries.”

Mr Penno’s comments coincide with an 18 per cent rise in Victoria’s road toll during 2016. Of the 206 deaths recorded on the state’s roads, 64 were people younger than 29.  

Last year, 22 per cent of drivers killed were aged between 18 and 25 years, with this age group only representing around 13 percent of licence holders.

Victory College student Zoe Ferns, who went for a driving lesson with Mr Penno on Tuesday afternoon, turns 18 next week and will soon sit the P-plate exam. 

She believed the freedom that comes with solo driving might make some young people feel they could take other risks on the road, but said her licence was a privilege not worth losing.  

“I wouldn't want to lose my licence once I've spent two years getting all my hours up,” Ms Ferns said. 

She has accumulated about 130 hours of driving experience, mostly with her parents in the passenger seat.

While she said starting to drive was scary, she had not found learning from her parents stressful.  

Still, there were lessons only a driving instructor was able to teach, Ms Ferns said.  

“[Greg] has given me more confidence and he taught me head-checks and to always looking in your mirrors, things I wasn't doing enough before.”