Instead, he says the rules are simple to follow.

NSW teenagers with P1 licences have approached The Border Mail with stories of being fined for having too many “peer passengers” when driving in Victoria.

P1 drivers must have no more than one passenger under 21 at all times in Victoria, but in NSW, the restriction applies only between 11pm and 5am.

Road and Maritime Services advises drivers to obey conditions of their licence, which some teenagers interpreted to mean they could have a full carload in Victoria.

NSW cross-border commissioner James McTavish provided the clearest explanation yet: passenger restrictions are not a “condition” of a licence, they are road rules enforced by individual states.

That means P-platers from all states do have to follow Victorian rules, even the passenger restrictions.

Mr Aplin said better education was needed to ensure probationary drivers could understand.

“The rules are clear, but people aren’t taking them on board,” he said.

“About once a year this issue pops up … it’s not a crisis, it happens occasionally.”

The MLA, who chaired a road safety committee, said road rules had been discussed between the states at COAG meetings.

“It would be advantageous to have a commonality, but that’s still something we’re working towards,” he said.

Some teenagers have received leniency – one magistrate in Wodonga Magistrates’ Court placed an 18-year-old from Albury on a three-month good behaviour bond, rather than make him pay the $466 fine.

Another teenager, Brad Goddard, has amassed more than 1500 signatures in an online petition calling for a national probationary licensing system to prevent more P-plater drivers being fined.

Mr McTavish said most drivers wanted to obey the rules, but RMS and VicRoads websites were not clear.

“(The websites) are hard for me to navigate, so I can image what it would be like for a 17-year-old,” he said.

“The fines are very steep.”

He said he was working with the RMS on clearer advice for probationary drivers, and with the NSW Transport Department on a paper looking into cross-border issues.

“I don’t think we’re ever going to have national road rules unfortunately,” Mr McTavish said.