Calls are growing in the UK for a six month rule ban to be placed on all new drivers who pass their tests in the first four years of being allowed to get behind the wheel.
For teenagers, being able to drive is one of the first real freedoms when it comes to exploring the world.
That feeling of being able to go anywhere you want, whenever you want, is something that is incredibly liberating as you navigate that journey from a teenager leaving school to a fully fledged adult.
But things could change, with new calls launched by breakdown and insurance company The AA to change the law for all drivers under the age of 21.
What is the AA asking for?
The AA’s chief executive, Jakob Pfaudler, has written to Transport Secretary Louise Haigh to highlight the organisation’s strengthened calls for the introduction of something called ‘GDL’.
This stands for ‘Graduated Driver Licensing’, which is something that actually stops you from being given a full driving licence when you pass your test.
It’s all to do with lowering risk while new drivers get used to the roads without an instructor.
Saying goodbye to the L plates could see them replaced with another one under AA recommendations (Getty Stock Images)
What GDL measures does the AA want?
The AA is asking for all new drivers under the age of 21 to be banned from driving their mates of the same age for six months after passing their test. There should be an exemption for parents and carers, they say.
It is also demanding that new drivers should be given an immediate six points for not wearing a seatbelt. In effect, this would mean new drivers lose their licence under the New Drivers Act.
And to aid the police, new drivers under 21 should display a ‘G’ plate – showing other road users they are a graduate driver – for the first six months after passing their test. This is similar to a system used in Australia.
Some newly qualified drivers will put P plates on their cars to tell other road users they’re new, but it is not the law to have them (Getty Stock Images)
‘Reduce road deaths’
Jakob Pfaudler, CEO of The AA, said: “GDL has been proven in other countries to significantly reduce road deaths and serious injuries.
“Figures show 290 people were killed in young driver crashes last year with more than 4,669 seriously injured. Not only is this a tragic waste of life, but it contributes to the burden of high insurance premiums for young drivers. These premiums should fall when there is evidence of a reduction of young drivers and passengers killed and seriously injured.
“We are calling on the transport secretary to make simple, pragmatic changes to the licensing process so young people are better protected in their first few months of independent driving.”
There is no word on whether the Government will back these calls from the AA, but it is more than likely to at least consider them given the evidence provided by the AA on how it could reduce deaths.
