Road Safety: Young Drivers

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter Excerpts

Tuesday 28th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Suffolk Coastal) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I start by warmly congratulating my good and hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) on securing this important debate, and saying thank you for the stories that have been shared this morning. In Suffolk Coastal we are proudly rural, with A and B roads stretching the full 40 miles of the constituency. I could use my speech today to describe in great detail the danger of rural roads, but everyone has done that well and, with just two minutes, I will resist the urge. Instead, I will throw my weight behind the call that we have heard this morning for a graduated licence scheme. In places such as Suffolk, the problem is incredibly severe and our many rural roads give impetus to the need for such a scheme. Some 38% of collisions in Suffolk were a result of a young driver behind the wheel. This problem is real.

A graduated driving licence scheme would put a set of restrictions on new drivers who have recently passed their practical test for an initial period. Some of these restrictions are important for us to properly debate and give real consideration to. As we have just heard, not everyone will be in agreement, but we must accept that we need to do more to challenge these horrific statistics and to make sure that lives are saved going forward.

I will not take up any more time, but may I just personally thank everybody who has come in today and who has shared their personal stories? They have been hugely touching: as my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury said at the beginning, you have put your grief on the line to share these stories and we are deeply moved by it. Thank you so much.

--- Later in debate ---

[Greg Smith]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that point, and I entirely agree. The younger we can get people into any sort of powered vehicle, so that they can learn how to control it safely in different conditions in a safe, off-road, heavily supervised setting, the better. That work is all to the good and powerful, and I was certainly impressed by the evidence I heard in that Select Committee inquiry.

That raises a wider point that I invite the Minister to reflect on. I think it was encapsulated well by the hon. Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) when he said that young people are focused on passing a test rather than learning to drive. Our testing and learning system is too focused on a very limited set of circumstances that any individual seeking their first driving licence has to go through. Testing is done very often in an urban environment, but rarely on the rural roads that we have heard so much about, and learner drivers never go on the motorway and learn to control a car at significant speeds. My challenge to the Minister is this: how can we ensure that when a young person—or any person, for that matter—is granted their pass certificate and gets their full driving licence, they are properly equipped? To me, the solution is not putting in a graduated system afterwards; it is having the confidence that, when someone is issued with their licence, they are able and safe to control any motor vehicle to the best of their ability.

Graduated driving licences would take away too much from young people. We heard from young people in the Select Committee inquiry that I spoke about. What if a young person wants to go into the world of work? What if they want to do night shifts but are told they cannot drive at night? What if they wish to go into one of the emergency services and have to attend night-time emergencies, be that as a police officer—

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter]

With the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Greg Smith]

I have limited time, but I am happy to take up the debate afterwards.

What if the path that a young person wants to go down requires them to be able to drive a car at night? There have to be answers to these questions. I gently say to all hon. Members here this morning, including the Minister, that a driving licence must be equal for everybody, and that we must look most of all at how we can improve our confidence that everybody who is issued with one can control a vehicle in all circumstances, in all conditions and on all road types. That will involve a significant change, which will improve road safety for everybody.