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Motoring news

New motorists should be banned from night-time driving, says report

21/09/2010

Night-time driving should be prohibited for newly qualified young drivers in a bid to cut road deaths by 200 a year, according to new research. Similar schemes already operate in New Zealand, parts of the United States and Australia, with laws also in place to stop drivers travelling with passengers of a similar age. So-called "graduated driver licensing" could also impact on the number of serious injuries reducing them by 1,700 annually. The findings of the Cardiff team will be presented to the World Safety Conference in London this week, as other experts are also expected to contribute their ideas on how safety can be improved. More than 2,000 people died on UK roads last year, and this four-day meeting in the capital will look at further ways to cut the fatality toll and more preventative measures. Dr Sarah Jones, who led the research, told the BBC: "Graduated driver licensing works in other countries and there's no good reason why it wouldn't work here". New drivers could be restricted for as long as two years under the plans and could include a total ban on alcohol. However, motoring organisations have expressed concern about the ability to enforce the ban. The AA said it could penalise some drivers unfairly, including those who work at night and need to drive. The AA's head of road safety, Andrew Howard said: "It would give totally the wrong signals to introduce new laws aimed at young people and then not enforce them - many would feel that all motoring laws could be broken". A spokesman for the Department of Transport said: "We are considering what other steps we can take to improve safety for new drivers. We need to ensure we do not unfairly penalise responsible young people who rely on driving to get to work or college". These may include adding a new independent element to the current driving test, enabling drivers to demonstrate their ability to be safe in more realistic conditions, and further speed limit restrictions. A report from the University of London suggests that restricting speeds to 20mph, would cut accidents, particularly in deprived areas, where people are twice as likely to be killed or injured.

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