Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government whether they are planning to
introduce a graduated driving licence for young and newly
qualified drivers.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Transport () (Con)
My Lords, the Department for Transport has no plans to introduce
a graduated driving licence scheme for young drivers. The
department commissioned the £2 million Driver2020 research
project to examine interventions designed to help learner and
newly qualified drivers improve their skills and safety. We look
forward to receiving the findings from that project, which will
feed into considerations on further measures we could take to
improve road safety for young drivers.
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister will know that, in Wales, seven young
men—still teenagers—lost their lives in tragic car accidents in
the few weeks before Christmas. Year after year, young drivers,
particularly young men, are grossly overrepresented in road
casualty rates, and research shows that a combination of
inexperience and incomplete brain development often features in
the cause of accidents—although I obviously cannot comment on the
two concerned. There is widespread support for graduated driving
licences from the Association of British Insurers, the RAC,
Brake, Project EDWARD and the Parliamentary Advisory Council for
Transport Safety. Will the Minister agree to add to the work that
the Government are currently doing a thorough look at their
recommendations to see whether it is now time for graduated
driving licences in order to save these lives?
(Con)
I assure the noble Baroness that the Government take this very
seriously and are always prepared to listen to what others have
to say. Going back to my earlier point, our largest young driver
research piece is the Driver2020 project, an evaluation of
interventions to improve the safety of young, novice drivers in
partnership with the Transport Research Laboratory. It started in
2019 with 28,000 learner and novice drivers taking part and was
completed in summer 2022. We look forward to getting the report
this year.
(Con)
My Lords, I remind the House of my interest as a qualified HGV
driving instructor; I have done a lot of work with young drivers.
Why does my noble friend the Minister not understand that young,
novice drivers are completely ill-equipped and unable to block
out distractions from youngsters in the back of the vehicle
unless they have an older driver with them?
(Con)
I do understand that. It is not a question of generalising; not
all drivers are that bad. We must aim at making sure that the
young, novice driver—who is perhaps not as experienced as
others—is properly dealt with.
(Lab)
My Lords, while one has enormous sympathy with what is behind
this Question, how can the Government get into these matters of
further sophistication when there is an enormous waiting list for
driving tests? The last stated figure was an 18 and a half-week
wait for a driving test, which is very important to people trying
to get jobs. The Government are supposed to be working towards a
nine-week target. Can the Minister report progress on that, or is
it just another example of a country that is not working any
more?
(Con)
I cannot give the noble Lord exact figures on that issue, but we
will have a look at it and perhaps write to him.
Lord Swire (Con)
My Lords, no one wants to prevent young people getting in their
cars to get jobs and so forth. But with the considerable increase
in the volume of traffic, particularly on motorways, and the
introduction of smart motorways, is it not ludicrous that a
novice driver can pass their driving test and drive straight on
to a motorway or in the dark, both of which they may never have
done before?
(Con)
I take my noble friend’s point, but I think noble Lords should be
aware that on acquiring their first full licence a new driver is
on probation for two years. During that time, they are subject to
a limit of six penalty points for any driving offences, including
any received when in the learning stage. If six or more points
are received, the driver loses their full licence and must apply
again for a provisional licence, re-entering the learning stage,
so it is quite stringent.
(CB)
Does the noble Lord agree that one reason why young people
sometimes drive so badly—and why so many young people are
convicted of driving without insurance—is that the cost of
insurance is way outside the budget of most families, even when
the child in that family has learnt to drive through a driving
school? Is it not time that the Government and the insurance
industry got together to talk about educating young drivers to
drive better and to obtain more driving experience?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for that. He makes a very good point, and
it is something which the Government could well look at.
(Con)
My Lords, I declare an interest as someone who will be 70 later
this year. Can my noble friend explain why it is that when you
are 70, you have to reapply for your driving licence? Why pick on
70?
(Con)
Can I say that I agree with my noble friend? At the age of 70,
drivers must renew their entitlement and, at most, every three
years after that. To renew the entitlement, they must make a
legal declaration that they can meet the standards required to
drive and confirm that they have listed any medical condition.
That is the important point: whether there are any new medical
conditions.
(Lab)
My Lords, while I support reviewing the issue of young drivers,
perhaps if the Minister is to do that, he will look at older
drivers. As far as I know, there have not been any young drivers
driving up motorways in the wrong direction.
(Con)
Again, I would say that it is about, every three years after
becoming 70, making a medical declaration to ensure that a person
is of sound mind and able to continue driving on our roads.
(LD)
My Lords, many Members of this House are grandparents with
teenage grandchildren. I say as one of them that it is
exceedingly alarming to know that a new driver who has just
passed their test can take a number of youngsters out after a
party or some other gathering or to a gathering. Hopefully, they
are not breaking the law by drinking, but the behaviour in the
car and the distraction is a genuinely serious issue and a major
cause of many of the accidents about which we are concerned.
(Con)
The noble Baroness is absolutely right; I cannot disagree with
her. That is why the Government have commissioned the young
driver research piece, the Driver 2020 project, and I hope that
it will produce some suggestions as to how we may deal with
this.
(Con)
My Lords, I want to apologise to the House. About a year ago, I
got up and claimed that insurance and other details said that
women drivers were substantially better drivers than men, and I
wanted to argue their case. Sadly, within 24 hours of my asking
that question, two female members of my family committed minor
offences in motor cars. I therefore wish to ask my noble friend
to try to justify my position by indicating that between young
drivers—young people of both sexes—young women drivers are safer
drivers for insurance purposes than young men.
(Con)
I am afraid I am not in a position to comment on that. What I can
say, on a very serious point, is that, overall, the figures for
2022 are that one fifth of all car collisions resulting in death
or serious injury involved young drivers aged between 17 and 24.
In 2022, 1,365 young car drivers were killed or seriously
injured. Young male car drivers aged 17 to 24 are four times as
likely to be killed or seriously injured compared with all car
drivers aged 25 or over.
(Lab)
My Lords, does the Minister agree that one of the major factors
leading to the death or serious injury of those aged between 17
and 24 is a higher incidence of drink and drugs among that
cohort, which is well known by the insurance industry? Does he
recognise that we have the weakest rules relating to the amount
that one can drink in the whole of Europe, apart from Malta? Is
it not time that, when they come to undertake the review
following the evidence being presented, the Government take
action and require them to stay away from drinking in the way
that they do at the moment?
(Con)
The noble Lord makes a very good point. I appreciate everything
that he says.
