Young Drivers....... (Read 1,162 times)

[gainsb1]

Taken from another website:

ABI Calls for Stricter Regulations for Young Drivers
Posted on March 1 2013 by admin

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has called for strict new rules aimed specifically at young and new drivers, in a bid to reduce the number of traffic accidents in the UK.

One third of road deaths are caused by drivers under the age of 24, despite this group counting for only an eighth of the driving population. The ABI asserts that this statistic should not be overlooked, and has put forward a proposal of new regulations that are intended to address the issue.

The proposal suggests that the minimum age for learning to drive should be lowered to 16 and a half, and that drivers should be expected to take supervised lessons for at least a year before taking their test. Crash-course driving schools would also be banned under these regulations, since the ABI claims that they leave drivers ill-equipped to deal with the realities of the road.

After passing your test, the ABI believes that you should then be subject to a graduated license scheme that would impose certain restrictions for the first 6 months. For example, new drivers would not be allowed to drive between 11pm and 4am, the blood alcohol limit would be reduced to zero and there would be a limit to the number of passengers allowed in the car.

All of these measures have been put in place in Canada, where accidents involving young people have been seen to fall in response. With reforms already being carried out in Northern Ireland, it seems inevitable that road safety minister Stephen Hammond will be giving this proposal some serious consideration in the near future.

Leigh (Area rep)

[Al Ramone]

i'd have thought there would need to be sats on the types of accidents, what time of day, if there were alcohol involved, speeding/showing off, that kinda thing.
or if it was just down to poor driving, lack of understanding car control, not reading the road and other drivers.

but yeh, i'm sure improving the lessons and restrictions on young drivers will be of benifit to others and help them by lowering insurance costs.

[gainsb1]

The thing is..... many years ago the government introduced limitations on motorcycles such as (IIRC) max 125cc and BHP restriction until having passed the appropriate test. I wonder how those stats compare?

Leigh (Area rep)