ABI: young drivers should be made to learn for a year

Motoring and Travel

Updated on 04 October 2012 | 22 Comments

The Association of British Insurers wants to see young drivers forced to learn to drive for a year before being allowed to take their driving test.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has called for a number of radical changes to the laws governing young drivers.

The insurance trade body has highlighted that an 18-year-old driver is three times more likely to be involved in a crash than a driver 30 years older, while one in three deaths on the road involve someone under the age of 25.

In an attempt to improve road safety for everyone, the ABI has called for the following changes to be made:

  • Young drivers to undergo a minimum 12-month learning period before taking their driving test to ensure more supervised practice

  • Intensive training courses as the sole means of learning to drive should be banned

  • A lowering of the age at which drivers can start learning to drive to 16 and a half

  • Graduated driver licensing. This would restrict the number of passengers new drivers can carry for the first six months after passing, restrictions on driving between 11pm and 4am (with exemptions for journeys to work or college) and a zero limit for blood-alcohol levels.

What do you think of these proposals? Vote in our poll below and share your thoughts in the Comments section.

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