New drivers should be banned from having passengers, AA says
15 April 2024, 10:28
Newly qualified drivers should be banned from carrying passengers for up to six months after passing their tests, the AA has said.
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They have proposed the ban to cut “needless deaths” on Britains roads.
The AA also wants new drivers to have to have a record to show that they have driven on all types of roads - as part of ‘graduated’ licences which would put restrictions on new drivers for a set period.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said: “One of the major issues that needs to be addressed is the needless deaths of young drivers, their passengers and others caught up in these crashes. Each year nearly 5,000 people are killed or seriously injured in crashes involving at least one young driver.
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“Most people don’t realise, until it is too late, that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults. We owe it to the next generation to introduce positive measures that will help give them healthy and prosperous lives.”
The AA says around 5,000 people every year are killed and seriously injured in crashes involving at least one young motorist.
Earlier this month a 23-year-old motorist was jailed for 11 years after killing two passengers who had been “twerking” in the back seat of the car.
Adele Okojie- Aidonojie had been drinking and was driving more than twice the speed limit when her Mini Cooper convertible overturned in Battersea, south London last year.
Her passengers Rida Boutjettif, 24, and Mary Macharia, 23, both died after being flung from the car.
Ms Okojie-Aidonojie, of Bromley, south London, was found guilty of two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and one of causing injury by dangerous driving.
Almost five years ago the Department for Transport (DfT) said it was considering introducing graduate licences in England.
The DfT said: “While the UK has some of the safest roads in the world, any death is a tragedy, which is why we continue working tirelessly to improve road safety for everyone. “Our Think! campaign is specifically targeted at young male drivers, and we have commissioned research designed to help learner and newly-qualified drivers improve their skills and safety."
