VICTORY IN BATTLE TO SAVE YOUNG DRIVERS
After Mail campaign to cut death toll on Scots roads, ministers pledge tough new crackdown
YOUNG drivers will face tough new rules to stop the growing toll of needless deaths on the country’s roads.
In a victory for the Scottish Daily Mail, ministers have announced plans for a graduated driving licence (GDL) pilot scheme. It comes amid fears that collisions involving new drivers are a bigger threat to young Scots than knives or drugs.
It is believed that up to 22 lives each year could be saved north of the Border through the introduction of restrictions including a minimum six-month learning period for youngsters. Newly qualified motorists under 24 would be banned from carrying more than one passenger aged between 14 and 20 late at night. They would also be required to display P-plates for two years after passing their test.
It follows a surge in deaths of inexperienced drivers on Scotland’s roads and campaigning by bereaved families, activists and politicians.
Experts say that youngsters are more likely to be involved in fatal
accidents than older drivers due to attitude, lack of experience and a tendency to be easily distracted by passengers or phones.
The pilot initiative was confirmed in a letter from Jesse Norman, parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, to Highlands MSP David Stewart.
Mr Norman said the roll-out of a GDL scheme in Northern Ireland next year would be used to find whether the initiative could be introduced across the UK.
He said: ‘The Department for Transport has decided to use the introduction of GDL in Northern Ireland as a pilot to gather evidence on the potential for GDL in Great Britain.
‘The Northern Irish Government have just consulted on secondary legislation to bring a number of provisions into force in 2019/20 including passengercarrying restrictions and a six-month mandatory learning period.’
The announcement comes after it was revealed the number of people killed on Scotland’s roads leapt by 41 per cent in 2016 – with 106 drivers and passengers losing their lives. In 2015, this newspaper revealed 22 people were killed in road accidents involving young drivers in 2014. It prompted a renewed call for the introduction of a tougher test and restrictions on those who passed.
Until now, attempts to introduce a scheme have failed over fears it would be unpopular with young voters – despite the success of similar initiatives in Australia, Canada and the US.
Among the likely GDL measures, new drivers will also have to undertake training in motorway driving. Drivers under 24 would be banned from carrying more than one passenger aged between 14 and 20 from 11pm to 6am unless they are immediate relatives, or there is an experienced driver in the front seat.
Labour MSP Mr Stewart has been among the most vocal in Scotland calling for a GDL scheme following the deaths of two 17year-olds – driver Ashlee Jackson and passenger Callum Matheson – in Inverness in 2010.
Welcoming the pilot scheme, Mr Stewart said: ‘I am delighted that most of the measures we have been asking for have been proposed via a real-world, randomised control trial in Northern Ireland. In Scotland alone, if a form of graduated driving licence was introduced, up to 22 lives a year could be saved.
‘Generally, Scottish politicians, road safety organisations and other bodies are in support of such a scheme. Our primary task was to convince the UK Government of the benefits. This is a positive step forward that I believe will save lives.’
Rebecca Ashton, head of driver behaviour at charity IAM RoadSmart, said: ‘Road crashes are the biggest killer of young people in the UK today, New drivers are most at risk in their first year of driving and yet the current system abandons them to learn by their own, sometimes fatal, mistakes.’
Nick Lloyd, road safety manager for RoSPA, said: ‘We have called for graduated driver licensing for a number of years.
‘It’s pleasing to see that the Government is open to its potential, in looking at the effectiveness of a variety of road safety intervention measures and the potential benefits of these and graduated driver licensing after it’s introduced in Northern Ireland.’
June Ross, who lost her son Ian Buchanan, has previously led calls for a GDL.
Aged only 23, Ian died when his best friend lost control of a car on the B993 between Kemnay and Monymusk, Aberdeenshire, in 2010.
Last night, the Scottish Government said that it supported the principle of a GDL and called for the UK to devolve powers for this to Scotland.
A spokesman said: ‘We are committed to improving road safety and support the principle of a graduated driving licence.
‘Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2020 sets out a collaborative approach towards an ultimate vision of zero fatalities.
‘For example, giving learner drivers experience of driving on motorways prior to their test will help to develop their skills and confidence before they begin to drive independently. This is one component of the type of graduated driver licensing that ministers are keen to have implemented and for the powers to be devolved to allow us to do so.’