The P-plate age should be raised, a night-time curfew should placed on novice drivers and new drivers should be banned from carrying more than one passenger, a researcher has recommended after studying the high rates of young driver deaths.

There have been 27 fatalities in P-plate-driver crashes this year, the latest figures reveal.

Although young driver crashes have decreased significantly in NSW, they still account for 24 per cent of road fatalities in the state, but make up just 16 per cent of all drivers.

Despite great strides in reducing the road toll, new drivers continued to die at nearly twice the rate of other drivers, said research fellow Dr Bridie Scott-Parker, who called for more to be done to prevent these deaths.

Many newly-minted P-platers are still unprepared for solo driving, her latest research of interviewing new P-platers shows.

Many couldn't remember the road rules, and some were nervous about driving with friends.

Alarmingly, new drivers also felt that little of their L-plate driving had prepared them for driving at the riskiest times and in the riskiest situations, including on busy roads, driving with friends, when they had to share the road with buses or trucks, or driving when it was late or they were tired.

Dr Scott-Parker practices what she preaches: She has banned her 14-year-old son Brock from driving until he is 40 - if she can.

"I am a road safety researcher, yet as a boy of 11 he told me he planned to hoon, and do donuts as soon as he got his Ps."

There was no law saying teens had to get their licences, and she urged parents to judge whether a child was ready to drive or not.

"Think about your kids: If they are a risk-taker off the road, they will be a risk-taker on the road," she said.

In NSW, a new P-plate driver is nine times more likely to be in a crash than other drivers. In Victoria, the state says they are 30 times greater.

Dr Scott-Parker called for the driving age to be increased at least until 18, which is the requirement in Victoria for P-plates, and for night curfews that ban all driving by P-platers between 11pm and 5am.

"They drive into the licensing centre quite normal. They pass the test. And then there's a whole Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde moment," Dr Scott-Parker said. "They are full of confidence, yet they are driving at times and conditions that are quite risky."

You have to be 16 and pass a driver knowledge test to get a learner's permit in NSW.

A learner has to log at least 120 hours of driving - over at least 12 months - before attempting to pass the test to get a P1 licence, which includes restrictions on speed and lasts for 12 months.

The next stage is P2, which lasts from 24 months to 30 months. P2 drivers must pass a hazard perception test before getting a full licence.

The NSW Auditor-General found the Graduated Licensing System in NSW and conditions on novice drivers had contributed to a 65 per cent drop in fatalities and 40 per cent decline in crashes since 1999, compared to a 52 per cent and 25 per cent drop respectively for other drivers.

Dr Scott-Parker, a reasearch fellow at the University of the Sunshine Coast, has interviewed and surveyed more than 3000 young drivers in Australia and around the world over the past six years. She was recently recognised as one of Australia's Science Stars of Tomorrow by the Australian Academy of Science.

While L-plate drivers have the lowest rate of accidents, P-plate drivers have the highest rate, often killing their mates, too.

In July, 17-year-old P-plater Philip Vassallo became the 35th young person in NSW under 25 to die this year. The evening crash at Penrith also injured his passenger, and involved another car driven by a friend.

In NSW, P-platers may drive at night, but may only have one peer-aged passenger. There are no restrictions on peer passengers during the day.

Victoria limits peer passengers during the day to one. In South Australia, P-platers are banned from driving from midnight to 5 am, and they are banned from carrying more than one passenger, aged 16 to 20, at any time. SA's website says young drivers are four to five times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash when they have two or more peer-aged passengers.

Jurisdictions with night curfews and passenger outcomes have fewer fatalities and crashes, Dr Scott-Parker said. Even if a nighttime curfew or limits on peer-aged passengers couldn't be introduced for the entire year of the P1 licence, she recommended that it should apply in the riskiest time, a novice driver's first month.

"Think about yourself when you were 17 with your mates in the car. Do you drive the same with your mates in the car as you do with mum and dad? No, not at all," she said.

"Whether your friends actively encourage you to do something silly or not, young drivers feel like they have to do silly things to show off to their friends."

Dr Scott-Parker also called on parents to continue to monitor and drive with their children after they got their licences.

"Unfortunately, much of the focus is on getting hours in a logbook, rather than getting a breadth of driving experiences. And once the young person is licensed. Then that's it, yay! mum and dad don't have to be involved any more. "

Spokesperson for the NRMA Peter Khoury said the current licensing system was working, and was backed by statistics showing the number of younger people dying on the roads was falling.

The organisation didn't endorse further restrictions such as night curfews because many young people needed to drive to jobs and to university.

The NRMA continued to look for innovative ways to educate young people about the importance of not taking risks, and being mature and safe drivers. For example, it has recently launched Keys2Drive, which provides learner drivers and their parent/supervisor with a free lesson with an accredited driving instructor. 

"We opened safer driving schools to ensure that children not just learn how to get a licence but how to become safe drivers," Mr Khoury said.

NSW road fatalities 

• 331 in the past 12 months 
• 247 in first nine months of 2014, includes 170 males and 77 women. Of these, 51 were drivers under 25 and 27 were P-plate drivers.