Young driver penalty points record shows need for reform
Institute of Advanced Motorists
The current way we train new drivers is clearly failing to produce safe and law abiding motorists, particularly men, according to road safety charity, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).
Thirty-thousand, eight hundred and fifty male drivers aged 20 or under have up to six points on their license, according to data released by the DVLA.1 This compares with only 9, 758 young female drivers with up to six points on their license.
During 2012, young drivers were involved in a fifth of all collisions where someone was killed or seriously injured. Yet younger drivers only account for eight per cent of all full driving licence holders in Great Britain, they also drive, on average, about half the distance of older drivers each year.
IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “Such high numbers committing a wide range of offences demonstrates the inability of our current system to deal with the attitudes and lack of experience which put new drivers at such high risk on the roads today. The government is currently working on a Green Paper for young drivers and this must better address the content and process of learning to drive so that our roads are safer for all road users.”
