Ministers veto curbs on young drivers in favour of improving road skills – say Bedford driving instructors

Young drivers are to be spared any restrictions on their licences after passing the driving test following a government decision to reject evidence from overseas that imposing limits for the first year would save many lives.

Ministers have rejected calls from road safety groups and the Commons Transport Select Committee for a lower alcohol limit for novice drivers and a ban on them carrying young passengers late at night.

A consultation paper to be published next week will propose that learner drivers should be forced to have professional tuition and to prove that they have acquired key skills before taking the practical test.

The Times has learnt however that the idea of a minimum learning period, which would raise the minimum driving age to 18, was rejected.

Ministers believe that it would be wrong to penalise all young people for the recklessness of a male-dominated minority. More than 14 young drivers and their passengers are killed every week in Britain. Male drivers aged 17 to 20 are almost ten times more likely to be killed or seriously injured behind the wheel than men aged 40 to 59. One young driver in three admits overtaking when they cannot see what is coming, compared with one in ten older drivers, according to a survey by Brake, the road safety charity.

The transport committee recommended last July that, for the first year after passing their tests, novice drivers should be prohibited from carrying any passengers aged 10 to 20 years between the hours of 11pm and 5am.

It also recommended that the drink-drive limit for new drivers should be 20 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The existing limit is 80mg.

A US study found that road deaths among 16 and 17-year-olds fell by up to 42 per cent when limits were placed on the number of young passengers that novice drivers could carry at night.

Research for the Department for Transport found that “there is evidence that nighttime restrictions can be effective at reducing nighttime accidents, though effectiveness will depend on the level of enforcement”.

Cathy Keeler, head of campaigns at Brake, said: “It would be a huge mistake not to have post[test] restrictions because there is compelling evidence that they save lives.

“There could be reasonable exemptions for young people who needed to drive children but our roads would be much safer if there were limits on the riskiest types of driving for one or two years after passing the test.”

Under the Government’s proposals, learners will accumulate skills in modules that will include basic skills such as parallel parking, as well as using high-speed roads and driving at night.

Source: The Times Online website by Ben Webster, 03/05/08

Comments please from driving instructors and driving schools who are BADDIA (Bedford and District Driving Instructors Association) members giving driving lessons, Pass Plus, advanced lessons, automatic  lessons, disabled lessons, towing lessons, refresher courses, motorway lessons, fleet training in preparation for driving tests or driver improvement in the Bedford area.