It was, in some ways, a Pyrrhic victory. But, if you've spent any time tearing along Newcastle Road when a P-plater decides to merge with the confidence of someone driving a much bigger vehicle than their Hyundai i30 with the dint in the side, then perhaps the results weren't that surprising.
Newcastle, it seems, has some of the lowest driving test pass rates among NSW cities of a comparable size, according to a data set produced by driving instructors EzLicence. But we still beat Wollongong. So, like we say, Pyrrhic victory.
Setting aside the further confirmation - as if any were needed - that Newcastle is in all ways superior to the New Jersey of NSW (that's right Wollongong, we said it), it seems we might be collectively in need of a driving lesson to pump up our tyres a bit.
Despite the somewhat concerning news that we're the city with the second-lowest pass rate in the state, at least according to EzLicence, it seems that of the service centres in our neighbourhood, Newcastle's Services office has some of the highest pass rates in NSW according to the data collected from more than 30,000 test results recorded in EzLicence cars from January 2022 to December 2023.
To put those numbers in context, though, EzLicence analysed data from 30,450 tests taken in their own vehicles from all states excluding South Australia, Tasmania and the territories. In roughly the same time, the NSW transport department recorded more than 1.2 million tests in total - the pass rate for which was 70.2 per cent (up from EzLicence's state average of 56 per cent). But in both data sets, we still pass more drivers than Jersey, so the title stands.
Maitland seems to have better drivers than Newcastle, according to Transport NSW data, boasting a pass rate of almost 72 per cent from just over 12,000 tests, but Lake Macquarie put us all to shame with a near 74 per cent pass rate from more than 24,000 tests. Interestingly, drivers who took their test in an EzLicence car apparently found it easiest to pass their test in Newcastle (which had the highest pass rate for the local area in the data set, at 66 per cent) compared with Toronto (52 per cent) and Warners Bay (47 per cent).
Off the road, on the bike
Speaking of Lake Macquarie, mountain bikers are gearing up for the National Mountain Bike Championships slated for the Awaba Mountain Bike Park from March 12 to March 17. The event will be staged by the Hunter Mountain Bike Association in the Olney State Forest, the state's logging department, Forestry Corporation, said in a statement last week. It is expected draw more than 1000 competitors and supporters to Lake Macquarie over the six competition days.
"The longstanding relationship with the Hunter Mountain Bike Association is one of Forestry Corporation's flagship mountain bike partnerships in state forests," Forestry Corp's Alex Capararo said.
"They are a professional club that has set the standard to show what is possible in establishing a thriving mountain bike park under the multi-use forest model used in our forests." Since 2006, the local cycling outfit has helped turn the Awaba Mountain Bike Park into a world-class venue for multiple riding disciplines, including trail riding, cross-country and gravity events, as well as having an extensive accessible trail network for adaptive mountain bikers.
