TASMANIAN students who skip school could soon face more than lunchtime detention under a Liberals plan.

Liberal leader Will Hodgman wants to stop students with bad school records getting their driver's licence for up to two years.



Those with high absenteeism rates, suspensions or expulsions could have to wait until after they turn 18 to apply for a learner's permit.



Driving was a privilege, not a right, Mr Hodgman told The Mercury.



"If we can't trust students behind the desk, how can we trust them behind the wheel?" he said.



Teenagers currently can sit the written learner driver's test at 16.



If the Liberals win government on March 20 next year, they would make a school driving course a prerequisite to get a licence.



"If students want to play up and play truant, then why should we trust them with a driver's licence before they are legally an adult?" Mr Hodgman said.



Road Safety Taskforce chairman Paul Hogan said strategies needed to be evidence-based.



"I know everyone is grasping for ideas of what to do given the state's road toll is now 50 but I would be cautious of suggestions that are not evidence-based," Mr Hogan said.



Mr Hodgman said his proposal was modelled on US laws, which had successfully linked school behaviour to licences.



Alabama schools have a points system where for every point accrued for disciplinary actions, the student has a week added to the age at which they are eligible to apply for a licence.



Read the full story in The Mercury

Originally published as Pass school, then drivers' licence