P plates: Not necessarily a marker of experience.
Camera IconP plates: Not necessarily a marker of experience. Credit: Supplied/Getty Images

Opinion: Pretence of the P-plate

Alf Campbell, KenwickComment News

THERE is a popular pretence that P-plates have something to do with road safety.

And it is indicated that an absence or presence of P-plates is a reliable gauge of the depth of any motorist’s experience.

The period of probation is purely time-based and it has no link at all to any degree of experience.

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One motorist might pass through the whole of the P-plate stage without having added any experience whatsoever, leaving P-plates on top of the fridge and refraining from driving. Another might have accrued decades of driving experience before applying for a licence.

Canny drivers are a bit wary of all other vehicles and not just ones with P-plates.