Minister rules out graduated driving licence for young drivers

The Government has again ruled out introducing a graduated driving licence for young drivers.

Speaking in a debate in Parliament on Tuesday (January 28), future of roads minister, Lilian Greenwood, told MPs she is “determined” to take action to cut the number of young drivers, aged between 17-24, killed or seriously injured.

“Improving road safety is one of my department’s highest priorities,” she added.

New drivers are currently subject to extra restrictions through the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995. 

Under the provisions on that Act, on acquiring their first full licence, a new driver is on probation for two years, regardless of their age. 

Whereas other drivers can accrue up to 12 points before they face disqualification, a new driver is subject to a limit of six penalty points received for any driving offences, which includes any that they received during their learning stage. 

If six or more points are received, a driver’s licence is revoked and they must apply again for a provisional licence, and re-take their practical and theory tests.

However, with a younger driver involved in around a fifth of all killed or seriously injured (KSI) casualties from collisions involving cars in 2023, motoring and road safety organisations have called on the Government to impose post-test licence restrictions on younger drivers, a so-called graduated driving licence. 

Such controls could be on the time of day the restricted licence holder can drive unsupervised, or restrictions on the passengers they can carry.

Greenwood said: “Despite the two-year probation period for all new drivers introduced in 1995, in terms of population and the number of miles driven, 17-to-24-year-olds, particularly young men, remain one of the highest fatality risk groups both as car drivers and passengers.

“Whilst the latest statistics show that the number of young drivers killed on our roads has fallen by 80% since 1990, this cannot be a reason for complacency – 90 deaths, which was the number in 2023, is 90 too many.”

However, the transport minister pushed backed against the idea of changes to the driving licence regime for younger drivers, preferring instead a different approach.

“Whilst we are not considering graduated driving licences,” she said, “we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic collisions on our roads, and that is why we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers.

“This Government wants to ensure young people's access to employment, education and other opportunities, whilst also keeping them safe on the roads.”

The Department for Transport (DfT) and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) have been working with the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) to carry out research with people who have recently passed their driving test.

Called Driver 2020, the research is looking at ways of making young drivers safer, more confident and more skilful in their first year of driving.

Greenwood explained that the project has tested the effectiveness of five non-legislative measures aimed at improving safety for young and novice drivers, including keeping a logbook, extra hazard perception training, classroom-based education, mentoring agreements and telematics.

Driver 2020 began in January 2019, with more than 28,000 drivers recruited, but having been delayed by the pandemic, Greenwood said that the DfT has now received the final report and it help inform any changes it does choose to introduce.

RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “Despite the future of roads minister firmly ruling out graduated driver licensing in Tuesday’s parliamentary debate on road safety for young drivers, it’s clear the Government intends to take action to save lives. 

“We’re pleased to hear this and are keen to find out what measures it believes will make the biggest difference, especially given so many young drivers are involved in collisions in their first year of driving.”