Young Drivers Have More Road Crashes

Young drivers represent appalling death and injury statistics of being involved in road traffic collisions. Motor insurance companies charge high insurance premiums for young drivers and inexperienced drivers, as the risk of them crashing their car is very much higher than that of an older and more experienced driver. This is because claims made by young drivers, as a result of their crashes, cost the motor insurance industry millions of pound each year.

When you consider that over 3000 car drivers under the age of 25–years old are killed or seriously injured on UK roads each year, that is a shocking road traffic collision statistic. Published by RoSPA, this one of many road traffic collision statistics, as others show that 1 in 5 drivers will crash their car within the first year of passing their driving test. Also, 1 in 3 male drivers aged between 17 and 20 crash in the first 2–years of passing their driving test.

Learner Drivers Have Very Few Road Crashes

When a young driver, or just any new driver for that matter, is learning to drive, whilst taking driving tuition they are very unlikely to be involved in a road traffic collision. This is because during driving tuition they are supervised by their driving instructor and usually in a driving school car. Even when having driving tuition in a parents car they are still being supervised and therefore kept under control.

The law was changed a few years ago to stop newly qualified drivers from acting as a supervisor to other young drivers, who had not passed their test, travelling with them whilst driving on learner L plates.

When the Young Driver is on Their Own is Where There is Greater Risk

Once the new driver has passed his or her driving test, and they drive on their own, the road traffic collision rates increase dramatically. However, as they become more experienced, their road traffic collision frequency drops every year.

During their period of driving tuition the skills young drivers develop are little more than those necessary to operate a machine, which is what a car really is. With a driving instructor always at their side, they are given directions as to what to do and when, and this also extends to what route to take. When young drivers find themselves on their own after passing their driving test, they have to learn to find their own way around, and that additional pressure whilst driving can prove difficult. However, driver confidence tends to advance quickly and it isn’t long before the young driver has greater confidence, but whilst being very much unaware of their limited skills. The potential dangers associated with sharing the public road with so many other cars and drivers are great. Historically, it has been found that young drivers are more likely to be involved in high speed crashes, single vehicle road traffic collisions. These involve losing control, crashes in the dark, crashes when overtaking and crashes by leaving the road on bends. Mobile Phone Use by Drivers Whilst Driving In recent years there has come another trend in driver behaviour, as seen in many young drivers, and has coincided with the boom in mobile phone sales. More and more frequently road traffic collisions with another vehicle, or just by themselves, have been caused by using a mobile phone when driving. Something that is worse than talking on a mobile phone whilst driving is texting on a mobile phone whilst driving. The law courts, when people are caught by the police for using a mobile phone whilst driving, especially if texting on a mobile phone whilst driving, have been known to deliver prison sentences, especially in such cases where someone has been killed or injured.
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Inadequate Driver Training Blamed For Road Traffic Collisions

Much of the problem associated with the high road traffic collision rate among young drivers is that of inadequate training, as many young drivers do not have the opportunity to become equipped with effective driving skills. Road safety among young drivers could be improved upon with advanced driver training, but there are precious few driving courses available for the young driver. The added problem is that post–test or advanced driver training is seen by the young driver as demeaning and as such they will readily shy away from it, even though the driving course may promise to improve their driving skills.

Advanced Driver Training Has a Poor Image Among Young Drivers

It is not cool to do advanced driver training, as safer driving, to the young driver, will often be translated as boring driving. This negative impression of what advanced driver training will offer is not helped by the reputation of the organisations involved. The Institute of Advanced Motorists, for example, has long had an image that it is full of elderly drivers wearing cloth caps, tweed jackets and driving gloves, and who probably drove a Rover 2000 for most of their life, if not a Volvo 240 estate.

This of course is not true of the IAM, as The Institute of Advanced Motorists does have a lot of young members, but still has that old stuffy image. As an alternative form of training, there are some localised young driver training schemes that are put together by local authorities, or by volunteer driver groups.

A course for training inexperienced drivers, sponsored by Bucks County Council, seems to really be making a difference, as it gives 17 – 24 year olds the road driving skills and knowledge they need to help give them greater driver safety on the road. The manner in which it is delivered is nothing at all like learner driving tuition, as it is a more adult experience. The courses really are good fun and give young drivers those skills they can actually understand, as well as being useful to them

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This page was last updated
Saturday, 29-Jan-2011

More Road Crashes Happen to Young Drivers