Road Safety: Young Drivers Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Transport
Warinder Juss
Main Page: Warinder Juss (Labour - Wolverhampton West)Department Debates - View all Warinder Juss's debates with the Department for Transport
(2 days, 22 hours ago)
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Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) for her eloquent and emotional speech.
The issue being discussed today is not new. Many years ago, when I attended a school reunion, I was told that two of my schoolmates had died in road traffic accidents very young. One was on the way to see his son. Those young lives were lost, and the families were devastated.
Young male car drivers are four times more likely to be killed or seriously injured than other car drivers aged 25 or over. We have already discussed the prospect of having a graduated driving licence, and there is precedent for that in countries that have already been mentioned. We could have a two-year probation period with N plates, lower drink-drive limits and monitoring to ensure that young drivers do not drive late at night. Other measures we could take include having limits on engine sizes to reduce the driving of powerful vehicles and making the use of P plates mandatory for a set period after passing the test.
Young drivers represent just over 5% of those who have a full UK driving licence, but 20% of drivers involved in fatal or serious collisions. Although the Department for Transport rejected a graduated driving licence in 2020, it is time to reconsider that proposal. Young drivers have their whole lives in front of them in which they can drive as many cars as they want, so let us help them to do that without being killed and without killing others in the process.