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Big road rule changes are about to be signalled, including a crackdown on teenage drivers.
The driving age is expected to be raised to 16 or 17 and there may be a zero alcohol tolerance for teenager drivers. Cabinet is considering the range of moves in a bid to reduce the road toll.
However, young people are slamming the proposals.
James Sleep, from the youth union movement Stand Up, agrees the road toll needs to be reduced but he says the proposals discriminate against young drivers and will make life tougher for them.
He believes it will limit their access to education and other services, particularly in rural areas.
Sleep says it would be better to make it so any driver on a learner or restricted license must have a zero blood alcohol level, no matter what their age.
Transport Minister Steven Joyce has also been asked to lower the adult limit but he is taking a more cautious approach to that.
Elderly drivers
Meanwhile initiatives to keep older drivers driving safely for as long as possible are being discussed at a workshop in Wellington.
The AA Driver Education Foundation says a new approach is needed.
Spokesman Mike Noon says issues associated with senior drivers will become more significant with the country's ageing population.
He says changes to eyesight, flexibility and mobility all affect drivers' ability to see and deal with hazards.
Noon says the type of help people need can vary greatly from one person to the next.
He says the Safe With Age course, which was New Zealand's only national course for older drivers, was cancelled late last year and he would like to know what it will be replaced with.
Noon says most people want to drive for as long as possible in order to access essential services and stay active in their communities.
Give way rules
Changes to the right hand rule are also on the way.
Joyce says we are the only left hand country in the world where drivers are expected to give way to the right.
He says the Automobile Association has been agitating for change and the last Australian state to have the give-way-to-the-right rule dropped it some time ago.
The new package of changes will be unveiled on Wednesday.
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