BBC“Public transport is a nightmare,” says 19-year-old Jack Pears – which is why he depends on a automobile.
He says he wants it to choose up his youthful sister from college in Swansea whereas his mother and father are at work.
However he would not have initially been ready to try this if the AA got its way with a raft of new restrictions on younger drivers like him.
One of many proposals unveiled by the motoring physique this week was to ban new drivers underneath 21 from carrying passengers of the same age for six months after they cross their take a look at.
It comes after an inquest discovered the deaths of four teenage boys could have been avoided when their automobile careered off a highway throughout a tenting journey in Wales final yr.
Whereas the federal government is not considered contemplating the thought, it’s got loads of younger folks speaking – lots of whom say the proposals are unfair.
Faye Cullum has been taking driving classes designed for folks aged underneath 17 and is happy by the prospect of utilizing a automobile.
“If this rule got here into place, it would not give me any motivation to drive in any respect,” says the 16-year-old from Norfolk. “I need to drive as a result of it offers me much more freedom.”
She provides: “If I am paying for my automobile, the insurance coverage and the tax – why ought to they be capable to management who’s allowed in it?”
Some are questioning why aged drivers should not face harder guidelines too.
Older driver crashes on the rise
Division for Transport figures present that 4,959 folks have been killed or critically injured in crashes final yr involving drivers aged underneath 25 – a lower of 60% since 2004.
In the meantime final yr there have been 3,451 such casualties in crashes involving drivers aged 70 or over – a rise of 12% over the identical interval.
The intergenerational situation was dropped at the fore on Tuesday when an inquiry dominated that 91-year-old Edith Duncan, who has dementia, was not fit to drive when she fatally hit three-year-old Xander Irvine in June 2020.
The deadly accident inquiry referred to as for drivers aged over 80 to take a cognitive take a look at earlier than their licence is renewed. Below present guidelines, these above 70 can renew their licence each three years although should declare any cognitive issues. If they do not they could possibly be fined £1,000.
We put that time to the AA’s president Edmund King – why name for extra restrictions for youthful motorists, however not aged drivers too?
He says the AA has already mentioned some security measures aimed toward older drivers resembling obligatory eye checks once they flip 70 and giving GPs extra powers to flag dangers to the Driver and Car Licensing Company (DVLA).
However, warning of social isolation if new guidelines deter older folks from driving, he provides: “The automobile is commonly a lifeline for an aged individual and so they attempt to mitigate their fragility – they do not drive at night time, they solely drive quick distances, et cetera.”
“It is a case of getting the steadiness proper, as it’s with youthful drivers,” he says.
‘We’re not all reckless drivers’
He additionally insists that some younger folks would possibly really feel relieved not having the peer-pressure of being a taxi service for his or her mates who cannot drive.
And a few youngsters in Australia fairly like related restrictions which have already been introduced in there, he says.
“A few of them in Australia mentioned they really want [having the rules] as a result of it offers them the prospect to construct expertise for six months by going out with their mother and father or different adults,” he tells the BBC.
“So by the point their mates are all within the automobile, they’re a extra skilled driver.”
Comparable measures – often known as graduated driving licensing (GDL) – exist already in Northern Eire. In Canada, all new drivers face harder guidelines no matter age.
Josh Jones, 18, thinks there’s some sense behind the proposals.
“I believe, in principle, it is a good suggestion,” he says. “A couple of months in the past, considered one of my highschool mates died. I discovered that him and two of his mates have been killed in a highway accident.
“I do not know the way it occurred. However possibly if a plan like this was in place, that would not have occurred.”
He thinks the AA’s concept ought to embody exemptions for emergencies and youthful drivers whose household would in any other case battle to get round.
“In some methods I believe they’re portray all younger drivers in the identical color,” says Josh, who lives in Wrexham. “We’re not all reckless drivers.”
In addition to the under-21s ban, the AA desires newly graduated drivers to have “G” plates for the primary six months after their take a look at and get six factors if caught not sporting a seatbelt – if this was utilized underneath present guidelines, they’d lose their licence.
Mr King says this might additionally assist convey down insurance coverage premiums for brand new drivers.
For 18-year-old drivers the common value has greater than doubled to over £3,000 per yr since 2022, according to figures gathered by Confused.com. For these aged 24, the fee has risen by greater than 50%.
Jack says these crippling prices are why plenty of his mates can’t afford to drive.
“If you happen to’re underneath 21, the quotes are ridiculous,” he says. “I already spent two grand on black field monitoring – why do I would like further precautions once I’m paying that a lot already?”
A black field gadget may help younger drivers cut back their insurance coverage premiums as a result of it tracks issues like velocity, braking, acceleration, cornering and mileage.
Even when these restrictions have been introduced in, Jack is uncertain how a lot safer they might make the roads. Finally, he says, “it is the individual behind the wheel, not their age”.
