AA calls for limits to what new drivers can do on the road to cut 'needless deaths'

Limiting new drivers carrying passengers will cut "needless deaths", ministers have been told.

The AA says motorists should be prevented from carrying passengers of a similar age for at least six months after passing their test.

It's also called for new drivers to be required to keep a record showing they have driven on all types of roads.

These limitations would form part of graduated driving licences, which place restrictions on drivers for a set period after they pass their test.

They are used in several countries including the US, Canada, Australia and Sweden.

"Lifelong learning"

Seb Goldin, from Red Driver Training, is welcoming the plans: "We're about lifelong learning, so anything that can support drivers to be more careful and safer once they've passed feels like a good idea...

"Passing your driving test is a government base-level qualification, but it doesn't mean you're an experienced or safe driver, it just means you've passed your driving test, so any structure beyond that feels like the right thing to do."

The Department for Transport (DfT) announced in July 2019 it was considering introducing the licences in England.

But the assessment was halted in autumn 2020, partly due to the potential impact on young people's employment.

"Needless deaths"

AA president Edmund King said: "One of the major issues that needs to be addressed is the needless deaths of young drivers, their passengers and others caught up in these crashes.

"Each year nearly 5,000 people are killed or seriously injured in crashes involving at least one young driver.

"One in five young drivers crash within a year of passing their test.

"Most people don't realise, until it is too late, that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults.

"We owe it to the next generation to introduce positive measures that will help give them healthy and prosperous lives."

Seb told us why new drivers are particularly at risk of accidents: "When you're learning to drive there aren't that many distractions, you don't normally have music and you have a family member or driving instructor coaching you.

"If that's suddenly gone and you have friends distracting you, you can see how a driver's focus is taken off the safety of the vehicle and its occupants."

"How many more young people need to die before action is taken?"

Sharron Huddleston, whose 18-year-old daughter Caitlin died as a passenger in a car crash in Cumbria in 2017, has formed Forget-me-not Families Uniting, a campaign group for people who have lost loved ones in road collisions.

She said: "Graduated licences are a crucial issue. How many more young people need to die before action is taken?

"We can't sit back any longer and just watch as more and more young people are killed or seriously injured in road collisions.

"My daughter Caitlin would be alive today if action had been taken when the concept of graduated licences was floated years ago."

What does the Government say?

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "While the UK has some of the safest roads in the world, any death is a tragedy which is why we continue working tirelessly to improve road safety for everyone.

"Our Think! campaign is specifically targeted at young male drivers, and we have commissioned research designed to help learner and newly-qualified drivers improve their skills and safety."

The plea for graduated licences was issued as part of the AA's so-called motoring manifesto ahead of local and mayoral elections in May, and a general election on a date still to be announced.

The Creating Confidence for Drivers document calls for measures such as better fuel price transparency, reducing VAT on public electric vehicle charging, using technology to make more permanent pothole repairs, and setting clear targets to reduce road deaths.

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