This report provides a summary of the evidence on the mobility and safety needs of young people and the interventions that can be used to help encourage safe driving, in advance of the Government’s forthcoming green paper on young driver safety. The report suggests that placing conditions on the licences of young drivers could more than halve the number of fatal accidents among this group. It points out that one in five young drivers (17-24 year-olds) will have an accident within six months of passing their test and 1,552 young drivers were killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads in 2011, which equates to more than four each day. The report suggests that the introduction of a graduated licensing system (GDL) - including restrictions on night-time driving and the number of passengers - would allow young drivers to gain invaluable experience in safer circumstances. The RAC Foundation says that graduated licensing schemes in other countries have reduced the number of fatal collisions for this age group by between 9% and 60%, and overall casualties by between 5% and 32%, depending on the measures implemented. The study looks at evidence from several countries with graduated licensing schemes including America, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. As part of an overhaul of how young people learn to drive, the RAC Foundation is calling for a three-stage process: • A one-year minimum learning period during which they would need to experience driving in a variety of circumstances; • A one-year post-test period during which there would be passenger restrictions and conditions for late-night driving; • And a final full licence with a two year probationary period (which currently exists and during which if a driver receives six penalty points they have to take a retest). (Author/publisher)
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