His views follow a Confederation of Australian Motor Sport  pilot program in an Adelaide school that teaches 12- to 18-year-olds good driving habits to reduce road deaths in the long term.

The motoring organisation hoped the pilot program would show enough success to be funded by governments in other states.

Mr Bowe last week gave his in-principle support for CAMS' intention to move into schools.

Mr Bowe said early high school students were more receptive to learning than later in school life, but he feared their taste for fast-paced computer games, while fun, could encourage the wrong sort of driving behaviour.

Mr Bowe said along with driving theory, children should be handed the car keys to learn to drive in safely controlled environments before the learner licence permits at the age of 16.

``I know a number of young kids that are younger than 14 or 15 who know how to drive, but they are the minority,'' he said.

``The majority don't have real access to this sort of thing - still, they know how to get a licence.

``If you want to make a difference in the long term, you've got to start this process - you can't throw a switch to create a good driver.''