by Ed Towns

Created on: December 20, 2010

Facts and figures put forward by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) present a strong argument for changing driving licence requirements to help save young lives. The institute has said that young driver deaths in the UK could be cut by up to a third if compulsory post-driving test training was introduced.

The institute’s chairman, Alistair Cheyne, said that ‘compulsory post-test training would save lives among this most vulnerable group of drivers’. He pointed out that a similar approach in Austria has produced a 30 per cent reduction in young driver fatalities. There are legal requirements for all novice drivers in Austria to undertake further assessment and training.

Backing Mr Cheyne’s view, the institute’s chief executive, Simon Best, said: ‘We need no reminding that 17-25-year-olds - particularly young men - proportionally have more crashes and suffer more death and injury on our roads than any other group. Despite this, very little is being done to ensure that young people improve their driving after passing the test. The high numbers of young drivers who continue to be killed or seriously injured graphically highlights the need for legislation that insists on post-test training that embraces all kinds of roads, especially rural roads on which young people are suffering so disproportionately.’

The IAM Motoring Trust described rural roads as being ‘the biggest killer’. The institute leadership believes that extra training for new drivers would not be an unpopular option. They also state that there would be no question of taking drivers off the road if they ‘failed’. The institute wants to see novice drivers undertaking a second phase of short coaching sessions and driving practice off the public highway. This would be compulsory within one year of passing the driving test.

A 2006 report by Brunel University in the UK, following an 18-month study, concluded that advanced driver training produces safer drivers and lower accident involvement, with measurable improvements in knowledge, skills and attitude.

Not having any official power, the institute said in late-2010 that it was relying on the UK Government to take the lead on addressing the issue with a thorough review of driver training. Meanwhile, to try to save young lives, the institute was offering novice drivers a low-cost assessment by an IAM examiner early in their development with the aim of helping to improve confidence, raise awareness and reduce risk on the road.

In 2009, the UK fatality rate per 100,000 driving licence holders in the 16-19 age range was seven times greater than that in the 60-69 age range.

With the institute’s help and input, driving licence requirements could be changed to help save young lives.

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