MILLIONS of drivers could be affected following fresh proposed legislation to combat dangerous driving.
Motorists under 21 in the UK would be hit by the moves put forward by the AA.
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The organization believe introducing a graduated driving licence – which would prevent drivers carrying passengers of a similar age for six months after passing their test – would save at least 58 lives and nearly 1,000 injuries on the road.
The AA also suggested motorists with a “G” graduated driver plate be slapped with six points if they are not wearing a seatbelt, and therefore lose their licence.
A number of other countries including the US, Sweden and Australia have already imposed graduated licences.
According to Department for Transport (DfT) figures, 290 people died and 4,6669 suffered serious injuries in road collisions in the UK.
At least one of those drivers in each case was aged between 17 and 24.
The AA’s chief executive, Jakob Pfaudler, said: “Not only is this a tragic waste of life, but it contributes to the burden of high insurance premiums for young drivers.
“These premiums should fall when there is evidence of a reduction of young drivers and passengers killed and seriously injured.
“Graduated driver licensing has been proven in other countries to significantly reduce road deaths and serious injuries.
“We are calling on the transport secretary to make simple, pragmatic changes to the licensing process so young people are better protected in their first few months of independent driving.”
Crystal Owen – whose son Harvey drowned with three others when their car rolled into a ditch on a trip to Snowdonia in November last year – told the Sunday Times she was shocked that the UK hasn’t imposed graduated licences.
She said: “I thought: ‘What the hell is going on? Why is this or some version of it not law?’”
“Their brains are not fully formed, which is why we have other restrictions on things like buying cigarettes.”
The brave mum has since co-founded campaign group Forget-me-not Families Uniting, calling for the introduction of a GDL.
A petition launched by the group on Change.org reads: “With one in every five newly qualified drivers crashing within their first year and young drivers being at higher risk of being involved in a fatal crash when carrying peer age passengers, there is an urgent need to act now to save lives.”
A DfT spokesperson said: “Whilst we are not considering graduated driving licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are considering other measures to tackle this problem and protect young drivers.
“That’s why we are committed to delivering a new road safety strategy – the first in over a decade – and will set out next steps on this in due course.”
BETTER BELT UP
Drivers in Doncaster are more likely to have a crash than anywhere else in Britain, figures show.
The accident rate in the South Yorkshire city is 503 per 100,000 people, researchers found.
It is 17 times more dangerous than East Dunbartonshire, which is the safest place with 28 collisions per 100,000.
Second-most dangerous is Rotherham, also South Yorkshire, where the smash rate is 371.
London is third on 261, ahead of Hull (250) and Stockton-on-Tees (247).
Only three of the safest ten areas — Staffs, Beds and Stoke-on-Trent — are not in Scotland.
