Ban on passengers for young drivers

Young drivers could face a nine-month ban on carrying passengers who are not family members in the Government’s latest bid to cut teen road accidents.

Other options include a complete ban on new drivers aged between 17 and 24 from carrying any passengers until they pass a probation period.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) submitted the proposals to the Department for Transport after revealing that one third of motorists who die on the nation’s roads every year is under 25, despite that age group accounting for just one in eight licenced drivers.

It also says that drivers aged between 17 and 19 were involved in a disproportionate number of crashes, injuries and deaths.

A spokesperson for the AA said: “Drivers feel generally under pressure to drive in a way that impresses their young passengers, and this often means too fast and too riskily.”

The AA thinks new drivers only set out to learn how to pass their text, and not how to drive safely in different or challenging conditions, The organisation believes a mandatory one-year learning period would solve this.

The ABI is also calling for a year-long graduated licence that would give new drivers a better chance to practice in demanding conditions.