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http://uk.news.yahoo.com/young-most-ris ... 57186.html



Young Drivers 'Face Passenger Restrictions'

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Young drivers could be banned from carrying passengers who are not members of their own family in a bid to cut the number of deaths on the roads.

More than 1,500 17 to 24-year-olds in the UK were killed or seriously injured while driving a car last year, according to the Department for Transport .

One in every eight drivers is under 25, but they account for a third of the number of people who die on the Britain's roads.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin told the Daily Telegraph he would consider measures put forward by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) which could cut the number of accidents involving young motorists.

"There is a suggestion as to whether you should look at a restriction whether anyone could carry passengers for six or nine months when they have first passed their test," he said.

"There are suggestions about them only perhaps being allowed to take a family member to drive a car when you are learning, you have to have a qualified driver in the car. So these are all sorts of areas that I think we can look at."

Among the ABI proposals are a ban on carrying passengers other than family members, a minimum one-year learning period, restrictions on night time driving for the first six months after passing their test and a lower alcohol limit.

The ABI's Huw Evans said:"We absolutely acknowledge that most young drivers are responsible people who want to learn a useful life skill that will be very important for them both in their work and their private lives.

"The key thing is to help them to become safer and most accidents happen not because people are being reckless but because they're inexperienced."

Kelly Phillips, 17, from Surrey, died in 2005 when the car she was a passenger in hit a tree at 80mph.

She had been sitting in a car listening to music with a 17-year-old boy who did not yet have his licence - the decision to go for a drive on the public road cost them both their lives.

Kelly's mother, Della Phillips, told Sky News: "I try to hide behind this facade of strength. But inside I'm crying all the time, I'm missing her all the time.

"It's like a craving, you're not seeing the memories you expected to see when you have a child."

Ms Phillips is calling for an alternative approach to the measures being considered by the Government and is backing a free education campaign called Drive IQ - an online education programme that puts pre-drivers and novices through potentially hazardous road scenarios.

Some 350 schools and 30,000 young people already use the programme but it could be rolled out to thousands more.

She said: "When it comes to young people being safer in cars, lack of knowledge can kill. I know that only too well.

"We want every mum and dad out there to ensure their child and their child's school/college uses Drive IQ straightaway as it addresses attitude and behaviour.

"We have to tackle this issue right now."

Louise Ellman, chair of the Commons Transport Select Committee, told Sky News that something has to change.

"We need the Government to come forward very quickly now about what their proposals are.

"There should be support for voluntary activities, perhaps in schools, perhaps in driving clubs to develop positive attitudes towards driving before people actually take their tests."


Looks like the current road safety system is working then . Only thing of value I see in the statement is in the last sentance. It was a great money saver to get rid of trafpols, but IMHO,it's pennywise pound foolish. All the emphasis is on speed, not safety . It's on enforcement, not the one thing new drvers need - education . I could quite easily flag down some young drivers on my street and ask them what would happen if a kiddie ran out from behind a parked car . I know where i'd get told to go . But five minutes of education in the front of a traffic car ,with/without a ticket, whilst the perils are pointed out- might do some good.

Another quote from above
"The key thing is to help them to become safer and most accidents happen not because people are being reckless but because they're inexperienced." (Brake won't like that -no mention of the EVILS of speed)
So what's being done to give them experience, and advice .NOTHING.

And as the comment from someone from Beds says - who's going to find the manpower to enforce this .

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lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on

She wouldn't qualify as a BRAKE member then, far too knowledgable about road safety for them to accept her.

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My views do not represent Safespeed but those of a driver who has driven for 39 yrs, in all conditions, at all times of the day & night on every type of road and covered well over a million miles, so knows a bit about what makes for safety on the road,what is really dangerous and needs to be observed when driving and quite frankly, the speedo is way down on my list of things to observe to negotiate Britain's roads safely, but I don't expect some fool who sits behind a desk all day to appreciate that.

Quote "restrictions on night time driving for the first six months after passing their test" .

It would make more sense to me for night driving to something that is taught whilst learning to drive. Perhaps then we would have drivers that knew how to use headlights effectivly which is often not the case at present.

Some might even have the sense to switch them on in time to be seen , and remember to switch off the fogs ,when fog has gone .

_________________
lets bring sanity back to speed limits.
Drivers are like donkeys -they respond best to a carrot, not a stick .Road safety experts are like Asses - best kept covered up ,or sat on