AA: Don’t let young drivers carry friends

YOUNG drivers should be banned from carrying passengers of a similar age for at least six months after passing their test, the AA has told the Government.

It wants a graduated licence scheme introduced as a safety measure to cut ‘needless deaths’ involving inexperienced young drivers.

Measures being suggested to ministers include new drivers being required to keep a record showing they have driven on all types of roads.

Limitations would be put on drivers for a set period after passing their test and the need to deal with the issue of rookie motorists carrying young passengers has been identified by the AA as a key concern.

Edmund King, the AA president, said: ‘Each year nearly 5,000 people are killed or seriously injured in crashes involving at least one young driver.

‘one in five young drivers crash within a year of passing their test. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults.

‘We owe it to the next generation to introduce positive measures that will help give them healthy and prosperous lives.’

Graduated driving licences are used in the US, Canada, Australia and Sweden. The Department for Transport announced in July 2019 it was considering introducing the licences.

But the assessment was halted in 2020, partly due to the potential impact on young people’s employment.

A petition calling for a progressive licensing system for drivers under the age of 25 has collected more than 21,000 signatures so far.

It was set up by Crystal owen from Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, whose son Harvey was one of four college students who drowned after a crash in November.

She told the BBC: ‘It’s shocked me to the core of how at risk our young people are and how little is being done.’

Sharron Huddleston, whose 18year-old daughter Caitlin died as a passenger in a crash in Cumbria in 2017, has formed Forget-menot Families uniting, a campaign group for people who have lost loved ones in road collisions.

She said: ‘Graduated licences are a crucial issue. How many more young people need to die before action is taken?’

The Department for Transport said: ‘our Think! campaign is specifically targeted at young male drivers, and we have commissioned research designed to help learner and newly qualified drivers improve their skills and safety.’