Road safety organisation TTC has highlighted the effectiveness of employer-provided driver training in improving road safety for young drivers, following new research into attitudes toward the Government’s decision to abandon plans for a graduated driver licensing (GDL) scheme.
TTC’s survey found that 60% of respondents supported the decision to drop GDL, which would have imposed restrictions on new drivers aged 17-24. However, 68% backed enforcing a ‘zero alcohol or drug’ limit for all drivers, while just over half supported making motorway driving a mandatory part of the practical driving test.
The Department for Transport (DfT) figures show that 4,959 people were killed or seriously injured in crashes involving drivers under 25 in 2023, a 60% reduction since 2004. TTC attributes part of this decline to employers taking proactive steps to educate young drivers on high-risk behaviours, including distraction, speed management, drink and drug driving, and fatigue.
Rich Hickin, group sales director at TTC Group, said: “The news that the GDL has been scrapped comes as a blow to many road safety campaigners who have promoted it as a positive move in a bid to help reduce road casualty figures. However, driver training is an essential tool to help young drivers reduce their own risk, giving them the information and tools they need to make informed driving decisions and stay safe on the road. Employers can and are making a positive impact on reducing accidents by investing in interactive classroom or virtual workshop driver training.”
TTC’s research also found strong public support for education-based interventions. Nearly half of respondents (47%) backed the inclusion of a documentary on real-life stories of young driver fatalities in the theory test, while almost one in four supported offering advanced driver training as part of further education curriculums.
Future of roads minister Lilian Greenwood said the Government was exploring ways to tackle road deaths “without unfairly penalising young drivers.” The DfT has now received the final report for Driver 2020, the UK’s largest young driver research project, aimed at improving newly qualified drivers’ safety through better training and confidence-building initiatives in their first year on the road.
Hickin added: “Ensuring there are effective and comprehensive road safety strategies in place for all road users will help reduce the number of people killed or injured on UK roads. However, around 44% of people aged 17 to 24 in the UK have a full driving licence, and many of these will be using their own private vehicle for work purposes or driving a company vehicle. Therefore, the recommendations that come out of the Driver2020 report are eagerly awaited so that we can drive down young driver incidents still further.”
