New drivers aged under 25 could be banned from taking other under-25s as passengers during their first year on the road as part of a new ‘graduated driving licence’ scheme.
The proposed licence structure, first reported by The Times, would prohibit new drivers aged under 25 from carrying passengers also aged under 25 in the first six months or year after passing their test.
The change – reportedly set to be considered by roads minister Richard Holden on 16 May – could be made by amending the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act, legislation that currently puts new drivers on a two-year probationary period with a maximum of six penalty points.
It has been lobbied for by Sharron Huddleston, 52, whose daughter Caitlin, 18, was killed in a 2017 car crash with friend Skye Mitchell, 18, who also died.
In written evidence submitted to Parliament in April 2020, Huddleston proposed a graduated driving licence structure forcing new drivers to display a P-plate; imposing a night-time curfew between 10pm and 5am; the aforementioned ban on carrying passengers also aged under 25; a ban on hands-free mobile use; zero tolerance for alcohol; and restrictions on engine capacity.
A graduated licence structure was previously considered by former prime minister Theresa May’s government but didn't materialise, due to concerns around night-time driving and young shift workers, such as doctors.
The government instead focused on improving training for young drivers, making it possible for learners to use the motorway (with an approved instructor) for the first time. However, there remains no legal requirement for such tuition to take place before taking a driving test.
Huddleston’s 2020 proposal recommended a minimum-12-month learning period with a logbook system as evidence, proving a driver’s ability to drive in the dark and in poor conditions, such as rain, fog and ice, and their capability on suburban roads and motorways.
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Its about time something was done in this respect, the accident (particularly fatal) stats for young and inexperienced drivers are shocking, and tragic. The issue of filling your car with a load of your mates is a particular problem, not only because of peer influence, but the fact that a car handles very differently at unsuitable speeds with all that extra weight. Hardly a week goes by that you don't read of an incident where a car full of youngsters leaves the road with awful consequences. I don't think there should be night time restrictions as this could negatively affect young shift workers, but power restrictions (as per motorbikes) and passenger limits for the first couple of years would be beneficial with very few drawbacks.
Skid pan lessons would make more sense than having learners trying to figure it out whilst having crashes. Still no mandatory snow tyres? Between 1991 and 2011, the amount of people who die on UK roads per year has halved, historically the UK has amongst the safest roads in the world, without the measures mentioned here. Stats for 2021 from Compare The Market; Driver/rider error or reaction, 64%. Driver/rider failed to look properly, 35%. Behaviour or inexperience, 25%. The one thing this article doesn't mention as a statistic is does having a passenger make any difference to incidents. All it does is take every opportunity to criticise new - young - drivers, and provide no evidence to support the claim that the thing being proposed would actually make any difference.
More regulation, more interferrence, more nanny state, more infantilising grown adults.
More regulations for all drivers up to seventy years of age?, not just new and inexperienced drivers that need checked, there's bad drivers at all ages.
We don't even have compulsory eye tests. Imagine how people would react to being told they have to go to the optician every 2 years!