Restrictions on young drivers through graduated driving licences would save lives - Jayne Dowle
As a parent, I’ve long said that my worst nightmare is a car full of teenagers, driven by someone who has only recently passed their driving test. And although my daughter is 19 now, and rarely gives anyone a lift, and my son is 22, I still worry every time they leave the house heading for a vehicle carrying a group of their friends.
So my heart absolutely goes out to the grieving mothers of young car crash victims who marched on Downing Street last week to call on the government to tighten restrictions on new drivers because “it will save lives”.
Bearing a 100,000-signature-strong petition to present to the Prime Minister, they called for graduated driving licences (GDLs) and stricter licensing laws. Such licences gradually introduce new drivers to full driving privileges, typically with restrictions on driving hours, passenger numbers, and alcohol consumption, aiming to reduce risks associated with inexperience behind the wheel.
The bereaved British mothers are calling for a minimum six-month learning period for learner drivers before they are eligible for a practical test.
They would also like to see restrictions for new drivers imposed for the first six months after someone passes their test, or until they turn 20. Importantly, they argue that drivers should be banned from carrying passengers aged 25 or under unless accompanied by an older adult.
In addition, penalties for violations need tightening up, they say, so that breaking rules result in six penalty points, leading to immediate license suspension and the need to retake the practical test.
GDLs already operate in many states of the USA, including California, and other countries including Australia and New Zealand, but British governments are puzzlingly resistant to the idea, backed by motoring organisations including the AA.
Introducing GDLs in the UK would save at least 58 lives and prevent 934 people from being seriously injured in road crashes each year, the AA says.
Back in 2019, under the Conservative government, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced that it was considering introducing GDLs in England, but the assessment was halted within a year, partly, it was argued, because of the potential impact on young people’s employment. This would seem a spurious caveat; few young people driving to work take a car-load of friends with them.
And despite the anguish of the six mothers who took the courageous step of going to Downing Street, the government seems immune to the possibility of budging on the issue.
In response, a DfT spokesman said: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way.
“Whilst we are not considering graduated driving licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads.
“We are developing a new road safety strategy, the first in over a decade, to ensure the UK’s roads remain among the safest in the world.”
What exactly this road safety strategy will turn out to be is anybody’s guess. ‘Strategy’ is not the same as ‘legislation’. You can only wonder if politicians have offspring themselves. As any parent will tell you, unless there are actual enforceable rules in place, many young people will carry on regardless, considering themselves invincible.
You only have to look at the crackdown on allowing under-18s to drink alcohol in pubs and bars. Whilst there are ways around obtaining a legitimate ID that shows the age of a young person, the vast majority – in my experience – follow the rules for fear of a criminal record. So why the hesitancy over introducing and enforcing legislation that would palpably save young lives?
The Downing Street mothers, whose children, aged between 17 and 20, all died in car crashes in recent years, travelled from across the UK. They were led by Yorkshire-born Crystal Owen, who started the petition after the death of her son Harvey, 17, and his three friends, Hugo Morris, 18, Wilf Fitchett, 17, and Jevon Hirst, 16, all from Shrewsbury, after their car veered off a rural road.
Mr Morris lost control of his silver Ford Fiesta on the A4085 in Garreg, Llanfrothen, between Penrhyndeudraeth and Beddgelert, in November 2023 while on a camping trip to Snowdonia in Wales. The coroner’s report even warned that without implementing restrictions, more young lives could be at risk.
As Ms Owen told reporters, “every time we hear stories [about fatal crashes] in the news, our hearts just break because we know that if the government had listened, then these deaths would not have happened.” From another mother, who counts her blessings every time her children arrive home safely, I wholeheartedly agree.