This week I was also left disillusioned by the knee-jerk reaction from a state government that bows to bureaucratic rhetoric, which rejects facts in favour of tugging on heart strings with worn out catchphrases.

I went into this inquiry with an open mind, but found the evidence was overwhelmingly pointing us in the direction of lowering the driving age. That said, I believe that a driving licence is a privilege not a right.

The recommendation by the Law Reform, Road and Safety Committee tabled on Wednesday, one of 11, would have reduced the probationary driving age from 18 to 17.

It came about after months of deliberation, countless submissions and hours listening to experts, advocates and, importantly, young people.

It would have removed a major impediment to work, education and social activity – particularly in country Victoria.

Sadly the "knee-jerk" reaction from the Roads Minister was all too predictable. Luke Donnellan trotted out the same line we had heard from police, VicRoads and the TAC.

They claim lowering the driving age would result in 10 more fatalities each year.

Had Mr Donnellan bothered to look at the facts he would have found there was no credible evidence to back these claims. What he would have found was that road authorities had taken the Forsyth report, published in the UK in 1995 but based on data collected three decades ago, to extrapolate potential fatalities and road trauma costs well into this millennium.

He would have found that the report was done when would-be first-year drivers sat a written test, not today's rigorous regimen of 120 hours on their L-plates and graduated probationary licences, and long before the safety features of modern cars.

Had the minister done his homework he would have learnt that in the past five years in Victoria the average number of first-year drivers and 18-year-old passengers killed in each reporting year was seven, not 10. He would have known that the TAC and VicRoads had admitted in their evidence that the fatality rate in this age group continues to fall.

I was a traffic cop. No one wants to see more people killed on the road.

The fact is that across the nation, the total number of 17-year-old drivers killed in road accidents in the past five years on average is less than 10. That includes every state in Australia, bar Victoria. It defies national statistics that there will be 10, 17-year-old drivers killed in Victoria by lowering the driving age. 

Had Mr Donnellan read the testimonies and submissions he would have known of a Barnawartha teenager who didn't want to overload his parents with having to cart him to and from an apprenticeship.

The minister would know that public transport alone cannot meet the demands of 17-year-olds working, studying or participating in activities outside school in regional Victoria.

This sadly out-of-touch bureaucratic lackey would have read expert evidence agreeing there is little difference in the driving ability of a 17- or 18-year-old. That the level of maturity in a young person is not linked to their birth date.

The only real barrier to lowering the driving age is political will.