Putting brakes on young anti-social drivers

Shock figures show an average of 80 young people a year are killed or injured on North Yorkshire’s roads and now efforts are being made to put the brakes on anti-social driving habits.

This week a project will be launched countywide which will see the police and others work with local driving instructors to train them to help young drivers identify and avoid negative driving habits such as speeding, using mobiles while driving, getting behind the wheel under the influence of drink or drugs or showing off to their friends rather than concentrating on the road.

In North Yorkshire an average of 80 young people are killed or seriously injured each year and figures for 2009 to 2013 show that 21 per cent of the people killed or seriously injured in the county were aged 16 to 24.

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The Honest Truth scheme, which already works with 1,500 driving instructors across the United Kingdom, hopes to stamp out bad driving habits and alert young people to the possible dangers as they learn. It says one in five young drivers crash in their first year of driving.

The county’s road network, which covers 5,000 miles and criss-crosses stunning countryside including the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors, is the only way to get around for many young people. However inexperienced drivers are often unfamiliar with the weaving country roads and do not always consider how the weather will affect conditions or fail to negotiate sharp bends.

Coun Don Mackenzie, North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for road safety, said: “The rural nature of North Yorkshire means there is a greater need for young people to drive and they tend to travel longer distances on rural roads than young drivers in other parts of the country.

“Regardless of what stage a learner driver is at, whether it’s their first lesson or post-test instruction, the Honest Truth will be a useful tool for instructors to help young drivers identify and avoid negative driving traits.”

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The issue is a nationwide problem and The Honest Truth partnership was set up in 2009 in South Devon following a crash that killed three young people. The partnership sees Honest Truth team members working with local police, fire officers, council road safety teams and others to help train driving instructors to pass on key messages while they are teaching young drivers.

The campaign is built around eight key messages about drink, drugs, speed, mobile phones, seatbelts, distractions, showing off and tiredness. The York and North Yorkshire Road Safety Partnership, 95 Alive, will launch the scheme at Harrogate Fire Station on Friday.

In North Yorkshire 14 driving instructors will be trained to deliver key messages.

Tim Madgwick, Deputy Chief Constable of North Yorkshire Police and chair of 95 Alive, said: “On average, a young person is killed on UK roads every 18 hours and another suffers a serious injury every 90 minutes.”