Highland MSP named ‘Parliamentarian of the month’

David Stewart, MSP for the Highlands and Islands, has been recognized by Brake for his campaign to prevent young driver crashes and save lives by introducing a graduated driver licence scheme in Scotland.

Brake says that graduated driver licensing is used in a number of other countries including Australia, New Zealand, and many US states, and David Stewart has been at the forefront of the campaign to introduce graduated driver licensing here since 2010.

In December 2014, Mr Stewart met with transport minister Claire Perry MP, to make the case for a pilot graduated driver licence scheme in Scotland. He has also been canvassing support in Scotland, including meeting with the head of roads policing, superintendent Iain Murray, in January 2015.

Mr Stewart has also launched a scheme called the Progressive Teen Driver Agreement which is designed to get parents and teenage drivers to agree on how they will behave behind the wheel – and the consequences if they break the agreement.

Julie Townsend, deputy chief executive, Brake, said: “Graduated driver licensing is a tried and tested way of tackling the problem (of young driver casualties), yet Westminster has repeatedly stalled on progressing the decisive changes we need to our learning to drive system, as more young lives are being lost.

“David has been a wonderful champion for the cause, and we hope that with his continued hard work, Scotland can set an example for the rest of the UK on young driver safety.”

David Stewart said: “I have been working closely with Dr Sarah Jones of Cardiff University, who carried out 10 years of study into road collisions in Scotland and Wales.

“Her studies found up to 22 lives and £80m could be saved per year if a graduated licence was introduced in Scotland alone. I want to work with our partners and young people to come up with solution to make our roads safer for all.”