Insurers call for graduated licences for young drivers

Insurance companies are calling for more stringent safeguards around young drivers in a bid to improve both road safety and insurance premiums.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has issued a report slamming the ‘unacceptably high’ number of road accidents that involve young drivers and urging the government to take more action.

As it stands, motorists aged between 17 and 19 years old account for 1.5% licence holders but are are involved in 12% of serious or fatal road crashes.

Top of the ABI’s wish list for new measures to reduce this figure would be the introduction of a graduated driving licence scheme, whereby timed limitations would be set on young drivers.

A commonly cited example would be to limit the number of passengers a young driver could carry for the first six months after they pass their test, or introducing a minimum learning period of a year to ensure drivers can cope with a range of weather and road conditions.

James Dalton, the ABI's director of general insurance policy, said: "The Government's continued failure to make meaningful changes to improve young driver testing and training is not only putting their lives at risk, but keeping the costs of motor insurance unnecessarily high."

The ABI is also hoping that implementing these measures might lower the high cost of insurance for 17-22 year olds, who on average pay a premium of £1,216, which is significantly higher than the average annual amount of £540 across all age groups.

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