Driving schools that offer lessons in high-tech car simulators are at odds with the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) over safety risks they could pose for learner drivers once they hit the road.
The agency argues simulators could encourage over-confidence, putting new drivers at greater risk of crashing. But instructors who own simulators say they are not dangerous and expose people to a wide range of scenarios.
Excellence Driving Academy co-directors Wendy and Tony Green offered lessons in simulators, saying they could replicate different weather conditions, times of day and road types.
Wendy Green said they also let drivers from smaller rural areas experience virtual big city streets.
"That's where the simulator is kind of in its own, because it doesn't matter where you live geographically. You still have the ability to be able to be taught the skills you need to drive anywhere," she said.
"[NZTA] don't know what they're talking about. Our simulators are not dangerous."
Wendy and Tony Green. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Tony Green said roads were globally generic but had been "New Zealand-ised" to include familiar lines, signs and lights. Simulators could also generate hazards like vehicles running red lights.
In a paper published late last year, the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) expressed concerns about simulators, saying they could promote over-confidence, corresponding with a crash risk.
"Any benefits that might arise through training are greatly out-weighed by the overconfidence imparted in those involved in these courses," the paper said.
"There is no substitute for on-road training and experience. Learners do not acquire the same level of skill and competence and there are potential risks for increased over-confidence, and corresponding crash risk."
While simulators had some advantages for drivers, such as exposure to different scenarios, they had limitations in teaching basic vehicle handling skills, NZTA said.
"Owing to the difficulty in emulating on-road driving... simulator training could lead to incorrect learning of procedural skills such as reduced mirror scanning (due to learning on a simulator with a single screen and narrow field of view) or poor vehicle control (due to limitations in steering, braking or motion functionality)," the paper said.
NZTA declined RNZ's request for an interview, but in a statement said driving schools increasingly wanted to introduce simulator technology to New Zealand.
It did not support them as a replacement for on road-training or using them to increase familiarity with driving and would not fund or support driving simulator trials.
The agency said its position was based on the latest available research and was peer reviewed by international road safety experts.
NZTA did not directly address a question whether it would like the technology banned, instead saying it would monitor developments.
"We would be happy to work with industry to help them shape scientifically robust studies that may further advance the current evidence base," the agency said.
AA road safety spokesperson Dylan Thomsen said the technology could help with real-world practice, but ultimately people still needed to learn on real roads.
"If you crash when you're driving a car in a simulation the computer can just reset and you carry on driving. In the real world, the consequences of people making a mistake, having things go wrong, can be severe. People can be hurt. People can even lose their lives."
Selwyn Driving School. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The Greens had sold four simulators to instructors since 2019, including to Selwyn Driving School director Brad Mannering.
Mannering installed the unit in a converted ambulance at a cost of around $100,000.
He said simulators could let people experience virtual driving such as driving on ice or safely performing emergency brake training.
"This way I can guarantee exposure to the top 25 reasons accidents that happen world-wide. They have at least a memory of that situation occurring for them and hopefully they'll be able to recall that a time they need it on the road," he said.
"The thing that I most disagree with is they've picked and chosen which parts of those international studies they wanted to use in their document. There is actually a whole lot of stuff that supports the use of driving simulators and education and I think they've glazed over some of that stuff."
Selwyn Driving School director Brad Mannering. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Oranga Tamariki funded Mannering for the past year to run weekly simulator lessons at Te Puna Wai ō Tuhinapo youth justice centre in Rolleston.
Residential services youth justice manager Aimee Hunter said the defensive tactics taught in the simulator helped a teenager at Te Puna Wai get their restricted drivers licence.
"It's things you can't teach in a classroom. Those are the points that when we get back to our young person, who was able to obtain a restricted drivers licence, their whānau is incredibly grateful, and have seen the change in that young person," she said.
"They are now out in the community, independent, driving on a legitimate drivers licence and working a permanent full-time job. Some of the feedback we've had from whānau has been huge."
In April, the government proposed the first major changes to the country's driver licence system in 14 years, under which drivers would not need to take a second practical test to get their licence.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
