With local and general elections looming, road safety professionals continue to pressure politicians over Graduated Driver Licensing.

Earlier this year, a united front of key figures and academics in road safety sent a letter to the government, underscoring the seriousness of the issue.

This was followed last week by a campaign from bereaved parents of children killed by cars driven by young drivers. They also called for the Government to introduce Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL).

Restrictions introduced in other countries include the number of similar-aged passengers a young driver can carry in the car, as well as bans on night-time driving.

Media moments

Over the weekend, media platforms put out more articles and programming on the subject, including the BBC and ITV.

The parents have formed a campaign group called Forget-me-not Families Uniting. They believe a GDL regime would reduce road death and serious injury and urgent action should be taken by the government.

In Britain, young drivers between the ages of 17 and 24 are involved in 24% of all collisions resulting in death or serious injury. This age group only accounts for just 7% of the total driving population.

In 2022, 4,935 people were killed or seriously injured in crashes involving at least one young driver. The figure includes other road users of all ages, such as people travelling in separate cars or pedestrians.

Time for change

Dr Ian Greenwood has now written an’Opinion’ piece on the Road Safety GB website.

Greenwood asks the question: We rightly value our freedoms in Britain, but at what point does the freedom for us all to be safe on our roads trump the freedom of motorists to drive?

Greenwood believe the subject “demands an important space in our political discourse”.

This is especially apt considering the government has recently pushed their  Plan for Drivers .

While motoring and spending money on the roads etc is seen as a vote winner, young driver road safety is forgotten.

Greenwood emphasises that there were “4,935 deaths or serious injuries from young driver crashes in 2022. It is also accurate to say that there was a 15% increase in the number of deaths of young drivers between 2019 and 2022”.

He adds that “there is a disproportionate risk to young drivers and the consequences of injury crashes means there is a clear policy problem in need of attention from Parliamentarians, rather than the government’s current argument that the number is falling, and so the current approach is sufficient. Graduated Driver Licensing has been rejected by the Department for Transport even though “every death or serious injury on our roads is a tragedy”.

Evidence based

According to Dr Greenwood, the evidence is clear, and value of GDL has been well documented for many years.

“There is a clear solution which has reduced death or serious injuries between 20% and 40% in countries, such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, where it has been introduced”. 

“The consequences for families and their communities are devastating. These road crashes cost the economy £132 million each year, add pressure on the NHS and emergency services, and inflate insurance premiums, but there is not the political will to tackle deaths and serious injuries from young driver crashes. I suggest that this depth of research and efficacy would not be dismissed if applied to, for example, teenage cancer treatments, but it is when applied to teenage road deaths.

You can read Dr Ian Greenwood’s full article here.