IAM lobbies Government on young drivers

12.00 | 5 April 2013 | | 2 comments

Following the Government’s announcement that it intends to publish a Green Paper on the safety of young drivers, the IAM has produced a series of recommendations which it will be putting to Government.

The Government’s Green Paper will look at a range of options for improving the safety of newly-qualified drivers and will be published later in the spring.

According to the IAM, young drivers need more guidance and support in the first six months of obtaining their license. The recommendations it puts forward are:

• A tougher test to include rural roads – where young people are most vulnerable;

• A new focus on treating driving as a skill for life – through continuous learning with post test checkups in the first six months of solo driving;

• A minimum driving period during learner stages to increase exposure to as wide range of traffic conditions as possible;

• A relaxation of the rules allowing learner drivers on motorways.

Neil Greig, IAM director of policy and research, said: “Continuous learning will do more to keep young people safe on the roads than restrictions. During and after supervised learning, new drivers need to gain as much experience as possible to prepare them for driving independently, something which curfews simply cannot deliver.”

For more information contact the IAM.

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    I absolutely agree with James.

    We are very lucky on my patch to be able to accommodate rural roads as part of the training and up until a couple of years ago even had a short section of dual carriageway where I could get students driving at 70mph (roll on the day when we can take them on a motorway because we’ve got that here as well).

    For those who take post test training, such as Pass Plus or Advanced, there is easy access to the whole motorway network, major cities and rolling countryside within easy reach – we’ve even got toll tunnels and bridges within minutes.

    There is no substitute for experience but that is not merely a matter of time but, more importantly, what happens and what you learn from it which, of course, needs time to accumulate.

    The proposals all sound very good (and familiar). Let’s hope something actually changes for the better. It’s long overdue.


    David Midmer, Grade 6 ADI, Wirral
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    My daughter is due to take her test soon and not only have I taught her the full syllabus I have ensured she has done over 1,000 miles. I’ve also got her driving our family car with my wife so she has a variety of experiences and people with her to create a more rounded learning experience.

    If more young drivers were exposed to the full range of driving pre-test it would prepare them better. Often my pupils say their friends do much less on their lessons than they do.


    Dr James Whalen, DSA ADI (car), Wolverhampton
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