New drivers should not be given full licences?
By Acclaim Team on 25th November 2011 in News
New drivers should not be given full licences – Association of British Insurers
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has announced this week that it believes that new drivers should not be given a full driving licence straight away, saying it could help the number of road deaths on Britain’s roads.
The ABI is advocating a new system whereby the ‘learning-to-drive’ period has to be at least a year and there is a ban on intensive courses. Furthermore they are suggesting taking a second driving test two years after passing the first one.
Acclaim’s Director of Training, Richard Barton, said, “Banning intensive courses and insisting on a minimum learning period will achieve nothing. The biggest issue is that motorway driving needs to be a mandatory part of the syllabus and the testing system itself needs to be tightened up. As for a second driving test, this too adds nothing. Currently there are certain circumstances where new drivers face a retest and those who don’t would pass the additional test anyway”.
So far the Department for Transport has not responded, but in response to a survey undertaken by the road safety charity Brake, Transport Minister, Mike Penning, said “most young drivers were responsible”.
