Every year in November our thoughts turn to those that have suffered life changing injuries or lost their lives because of preventable road traffic incidents. We always talk about safety and the things we can all do as road users to keep ourselves and others safe. This year we want to use this as an opportunity to focus on the petition for Graduated Driving Licenses to be introduced in the UK.
Graduated Driving Licenses
Graduated Driving Licenses (GDLs) are a system designed to gradually introduce new drivers to the road, allowing them to gain experience and skills in a controlled manner. GDLs are already used in several countries, including the US, Canada, Australia and Sweden.
A number of campaigning, road safety and motoring organisations are working together to raise awareness of the benefits of GDLs and to lobby the UK government to introduce a GDL scheme. They are also working with bereaved families to share their stories and highlight the devastating impact of road crashes involving young drivers. Some of the organisations driving this campaign include the AA, RoadPeace, Brake and the Road Victims Trust.
The proposal for the UK is simple and aims to allow new drivers under 21 time to gain valuable experience and maturity as drivers for six months after passing their driving test, before they are allowed to carry passengers. The petitioning group are also requesting that drivers with a “G” graduated driver plate are given six penalty points for not wearing a seatbelt, which would mean they lose their licence, to really embed this behaviour in them through their driving life.
The numbers are sobering. The AA estimates that introducing GDLs would save at least 58 lives and prevent 934 people being seriously injured in road crashes each year, whilst the Department for Transport (DfT) figures show 290 people were killed and 4669 seriously injured in road traffic collisions in Britain last year in incidents involving at least one driver aged between 17 and 24 years old.
Enable Law are part of the RoadPeace legal panel in recognition of our specialist experience supporting people seriously injured or bereaved because of a road traffic incident.
Sadly, we have personal knowledge of the tragic incidents that can arise when inexperienced young drivers are involved in road traffic collisions.
According to the Association of British Insurers, young drivers carrying two young passengers are twice as likely to be killed as those driving alone; and they are four times more likely to die if they have three young passengers. The presence of friends seems to both be a distraction but also sometimes an encouragement for more dangerous driving behaviours. Unfortunately, younger drivers are also more likely to have multiple young passengers in their cars compared to older drivers which sadly supports the grim statistics. GDLs aspire to put regulations to how many passengers young people can take exactly for that reason. Likewise, many accidents tend to happen at night. It is true that younger drivers tend to have less experience of driving in the dark. In many of the cases we have dealt with the driver and/or passengers may have consumed alcohol and/or drugs which of course severely affect the driver’s judgement, reflexes and sense of danger leading to a more reckless driving behaviour as well as in the passengers’ cases to being a distraction to the driver and a danger to themselves by often not wearing their seatbelts. These are all factors that not only can lead to accidents but also mean that if a crash happens, it can result in more severe injuries or even death.
GDLs are also exploring ways of mitigating these dangers by placing restrictions to what times of the day younger drivers may be allowed to drive but also what type of roads.
The introduction of GDLs in other countries has been proven to significantly reduce road deaths and serious injuries, so we fully support their introduction here to similarly help protect our young drivers and their potential passengers.
How can we help?
If you or a loved one have been seriously injured or lost someone you love because of a road crash our experienced personal injury solicitors can help you. To have a free, confidential discussion with a member of our team call us on 0800 044 8488 or fill in our contact form.
