Young drivers cause 50 accidents a day

by Gill Montia

Story link: Young drivers cause 50 accidents a day

New research confirms that young drivers are at high risk of being involved in a serious motor accident.

According to statistics from the Association of British Insurers (ABI), each day Britain’s roads see four fatalities or cases of serious injury resulting from accidents involving young drivers.

Meanwhile, the country’s eighteen-year-olds cause 50 collisions a day, nearly three times as many as drivers in their fifties.

The figures do not simply reflect a lack of experience, as an 18 year-old driver with one year’s experience is twice as likely to make a claim on a motor policy then a 30 year-old driver with the same length of experience.

The ABI’ is calling for a minimum one-year learning period for all learner drivers, and restrictions on the number of teenage passengers young novice drivers can carry.

Research shows that passenger restrictions in the first year of driving can significantly reduce the risk of accident.

In the USA such restrictions have reduced fatal crashes among young novice drivers by up to 37%.

Nick Starling, the ABI’s director of general Insurance and health says: “Every year 50,000 seventeen-year-olds pass their driving test with less than six months driving experience. One in three of these drivers are likely to be involved in an accident within the first two years after passing their test.”

Adding: “Too often these accidents end in tragedy. Introducing a structured minimum one-year learning period, and passenger restrictions will help today’s young drivers become tomorrow’s safer motorists. We urge the Government to act now to protect young motorists and their families.”