AA backs calls to ban younger drivers from giving lifts to friends soon after passing their test – following a spate of fatal crashes involving new drivers

According to the AA, young drivers should be banned from carrying passengers of a similar age for six months after obtaining their test and display plates with a ‘G’ for graduate.

Following calls from the grieving mother of a student who died in a road accident with three young friends, the AA has backed driving licenses for under-21s.

Hugo Morris, 18, who passed his test just six months earlier, was driving friends Harvey Owen, 17, Wilfred Fitchett, 17, and Jevon Hirst, 16, on a camping trip in North Wales last November when the accident happened.

An inquest last week revealed how Hugo approached an ‘inadequately drawn’ 90-degree bend too quickly, understeered and lost control in heavy rain. Although all were unharmed, they drowned after the car came to rest upside down in a flooded ditch.

Harvey’s mother, Crystal, demands a change in the law.

As part of its proposals, the AA also wants under-21s to be given six penalty points for not wearing a seatbelt in the first six months after passing their test.

It estimates that graduated licensing – already in use in the US, Canada, Australia and Sweden – would save at least 58 lives and prevent 934 people from being seriously injured in accidents every year.

The AA surveyed 10,556 of its members and found that passenger restrictions are the most popular part of the AA’s proposed GDL, with a third (33 percent) saying they would implement them over other possible GDL tactics.

The second most popular aspect of GDL to implement, if only one could be chosen, was ‘G’ plates (24 percent), followed by a logbook (18 percent) and harsher penalties for not wearing a seat belt ( 8 percent).

Young drivers were significantly more likely to choose tougher seat belt penalties as the only GDL element they would implement (20 percent).

In 2023, more than a third (36 percent) of 17 to 29-year-old drivers killed in a car crash were not wearing their seat belts.

AA chief executive Jakob Pfaudler said: ‘Graduated driving licenses have been proven in other countries to significantly reduce road deaths and serious injuries.

‘We are calling on the Minister for Transport to make simple, pragmatic changes to the licensing process so that young people are better protected in the first few months of being able to drive independently.’

Harvey’s mother told the Ny Breaking she was ‘pleased’ that the AA supported the licensing, adding: ‘If these deaths were happening in such large numbers from knife crime or murder there would be outrage, but unfortunately road deaths appear to be to be accepted. .’

In 2019, the Department for Transport (DfT) said it was considering introducing phased licensing in England.

This was later dropped, partly due to the potential impact on youth employment.

Following last week’s inquest, senior coroner for North West Wales Kate Robertson raised concerns about young drivers carrying passengers.

A DfT spokesperson said: ‘While we are not considering graduated driving licenses, we absolutely recognize that young people are disproportionately affected by tragic incidents on our roads, and we are considering other measures to tackle this problem and protect young drivers.’

What does a certified driver’s license entail?

A GDL allows new drivers to go through stages of experiential learning and restrictions – from driving in winter weather to passenger number limits and late-night driving – that require supervision.

As new drivers progress through the stages, they gain more rights until they receive a full driver’s license after meeting all requirements.

In 2013, the RAC outlined a GDL with similar terms. The two-year trial period in which new drivers will have their test withdrawn if they achieve six points currently exists.

Why are GDLs proposed?

GDLs have been supported by many safety organizations for many years, including the RAC and AA.

A GDL allows new drivers to gradually gain experience and reduces the risks associated with inexperienced drivers. The first 1,000 kilometers that a young and inexperienced driver covers are considered crucial.

GDLs are mainly proposed to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities caused by young drivers.

There were a total of 29,742 accidents in Britain in 2022, a fifth of which involved a young driver.

New Zealand is one of the countries where a similar scheme has been introduced. Since legislation was introduced, car accident injuries have fallen by 23 percent among 15- to 19-year-olds, and by 12 percent among 20-to-24-year-olds.

Sharron Huddleston, who formed the Forget-me-not Families Uniting group from people like her who have lost loved ones in accidents, said: ‘Graduated licensing is a crucial issue. How many more young people have to die before action is taken?

‘Our message is simple: listen to us, listen to the experts, listen to the AA and learn from other countries, who have seen a huge reduction in the number of deaths among young drivers and passengers following the introduction of a graduated driver’s license for young novices directors.

“My daughter, Caitlin, would be alive today if action had been taken when the concept of phased licensing was introduced years ago.”