Government commissioned report proposes new restrictions on novice drivers

The Transport Research Laboratory has today published findings and proposals about novice drivers that could cut accident road casualties by more than 4,000 a year.

RAC head of external affairs Pete Williams said: “We have reached the point where we have no choice but to do something different with novice drivers in order to significantly cut the number of deaths and serious injuries they are involved in.

“The RAC has for some time been calling for a reform of driving education for young people and the introduction of graduated driving licences with a minimum supervised learning period and restrictions on the number of passengers permitted in the car so this is a very positive step towards preventing the loss of young lives on our roads.

“The experiences of other countries where graduated driver licensing is used clearly show that it has been successful in reducing the number of collisions involving young drivers, but in order for it to be as effective as possible it has to be part of an overall package of measures including more extensive driver education.

“The RAC Report on Motoring 2013, which surveyed 1,500 drivers of all ages, found that 53% of young drivers would have liked supervised driving practice on the motorway as part of learning to drive and 45% would have liked to learn more about safe driving at school.

“While we welcome the proposals it is surprising that the technology solution provided by insurance telematics devices that can monitor driving behaviour of young drivers have not been included as they have the power to inform insurers of issues such as excessive speeding which can then be quickly addressed before it’s too late.”

“The Report on Motoring also showed 35% of young drivers felt the standard driving test does not cover all the skills required to cope with the demands of driving today.”