Points before passing

AN ASTONISHING NUMBER OF LEARNER DRIVERS HAVE ALREADY GOT POINTS ON THEIR TEMPORARY LICENCES

There are around 8.2 million people with provisional driving licences in Great Britain

TENS of thousands of learner drivers are clocking up points on their licence before even passing their test. That is according to figures released by the DVLA under Freedom of Information laws. The data shows 66,575 learners across Great Britain had been given points on their licence as of April this year. Of these, 42,883 had at least six points and 1,005 had at least 12 points. A person with a with a full licence would be banned from driving if they had 12 points on their licence. One learner driver had a staggering 35 points for offences that included driving without due care and attention, using a vehicle uninsured and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence. Under the New Drivers Act, drivers who get six or more penalty points within two years of passing their test have their licence revoked. If they wish to drive again, they are required to apply and pay for a new provisional licence and pass both theory and practical parts of the test. Rules for provisional licence holders, however, allow them to have up to 11 active points on their licence without receiving a penalty. They can also take a driving test, obtain a full licence and drive freely on the roads with 11 licence points. Separate figures from the Department for Transport reveal that learner or inexperienced drivers and riders contributed to three per cent of deaths and five per cent of serious injuries on roads in 2017 - the most recent year with available data. The road safety charity Brake wants learner drivers with six or more points to have to reapply for their licence. Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake, said: “How can it be right that learner drivers with a track record of committing multiple driving offences are still free to obtain a full licence and drive on our roads? “Newly qualified drivers face losing their licence if they commit multiple driving offences so surely at least the same standards should apply to learner drivers too? “We are calling on the Government to look into this with a view to reduce the number of penalty points a learner driver can get before losing their licence and prevent them from taking a driving test with multiple points on their provisional licence.” A DfT spokesperson said: “The Department is committed to ensuring that our roads are as safe as possible for all road users. “Last month, we announced our comprehensive Road Safety Action plan which will consider more than 70 different measures to drive down the number of deaths on our roads.”