Stakeholders lobby new Government on drivers young and old

The new Government is not short of road safety advice, with RoSPA leading a call for action on young drivers and the IAM lobbying for more action on older drivers. 

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) is lobbying ministers to agree to a Green Paper on young drivers – backed by other stakeholders including Road Safety GB, the IAM, London Road Safety Council, PACTS, RAC Foundation, Roadsafe and TRL.

RoSPA’s Green Paper calls for a range of measures including a graduated driver licensing scheme and increased use of telematics (black box technology).

Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA’s chief executive, said: “Far too many young lives are being lost, so it is imperative that we take a more radical approach in order to reduce the number of casualties.”

Kevin Clinton, RoSPA’s head of road safety, said: “Young drivers are more likely to be involved in accidents than experienced drivers – and yet they drive fewer miles. Sadly, they account for about 20% of all road deaths.”

The IAM says the number of drivers aged 70 years or older is rising by more than 10,000 a month, and there are now more than 4.34m licence holders over that age.

The charity is calling for the Government, medical professionals and assessment providers to “come together to address the needs of older drivers”.

The IAM’s wish list includes a Government action plan for older drivers, ‘better information’ for older drivers and their families, online self-assessment tools for older drivers, and wider availability of voluntary on-road driving assessments.

Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive, said: “People are living longer and there are many more drivers on the roads that are past retirement age.

“We want these drivers to enjoy their motoring for as long as possible, so we want some thought and resources to go into how we can allow this to happen.”