All 17 to 24 year olds to be banned from driving at night

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Banning newly qualified young drivers from night-time motoring, drinking any alcohol or carrying passengers of a similar age could save 200 lives a year and lead to 1,700 fewer injuries, according to researchers.

A Cardiff University study says NHS costs in treating people involved in road accidents could be significantly cut if a system of graduated driver licensing (GDL) was introduced for 17- to 24-year-olds and operated for up to two years after they passed their driving tests.

Similar schemes already exist in Australia, New Zealand, Canada and parts of the US. One in five new drivers in the UK crash within six months of passing their test and young drivers are 10 times more likely to be involved in accidents.

Sarah Jones, a public health consultant who led the research, said: "GDL works in other countries and there is no good reason why it wouldn't work here." She told the Radio 4's Today programme that such schemes allowed younger drivers to gain experience in safer driving conditions.

But Edmund King, president of the AA, said there were already tough measures in place to protect young drivers.

He said that in other countries motorists were able to drive from a younger age than in Britain, where there was also a tougher test.

King added that young motorists already face a ban when they reached six penalty points on their licence compared with 12 points for older drivers. He said his organisation favoured more training on driving and road safety for young people in school or college to "get safer drivers before they take to the road rather than introduce restrictions afterwards".

Critics say police would find it difficult to enforce graduated licences, although more insurance companies could offer schemes that meant cheaper premiums for those young drivers who, for instance, did not drive late at night. These were monitored by black boxes in their cars.

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Here is the link to the article by The Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010...-drivers-study

What do you think about this? If it has been done in other countries and they are saying the results are great, I wouldn't be surprised if our Government took notice...

So what happens if a person aged 17 to 24 who can drive needs to go somewhere at the night for an emergency? I think it's bit stupid to have this in place to be honest.

I can't see it happening myself, and if it did it certainly wouldn't be up to 24. It would be incorporated into the current system, so however old you are, you are restricted for the first two years of your driving. However I think it's an awful idea but I may well just be saying that as a driver myself. It would make things incredibly awkward for me in situations where I was working late or similar.

i guess this seems a good idea.. but easy for me to say as i'm not a driver

it also depends on what time 'night is' - is it as soon as the sun goes down or from 11pm-5am for example?

Absolutely stupid. Obviously they would have to allow driving at night if it was an emergency; and then they have to differentiate what is an emergency and what isn't.

Just even more proof that we are turning into a horrible, nanny state instead of the free country we all think we're in.

No where did the article say it was "to be" :S

So as people have been sayin what if it is an emergency? what if they work night shifts?

If this happens then its stupid in my opinion!

The reason I'v paid around £1,000 on driving lessons is so that I can drive when I can't exactly get the bus! If younger drivers can't drive during the night, then surely they will do more driving during the day, if not faster so they can get home before 'curfew'.

It frustrates me how the idiots who do cause the accidents have to spoil it for the rest.

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Originally Posted by Recursion

No where did the article say it was "to be" :S

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It didn't, just my crafty (while possibly a little misleading) way of getting people to look at the thread. :P

Suppose you could extend the title and say "All 17 to 24 year olds to be banned from driving at night if the Government approves". ;)

It'd certainly bring down insurance costs and potentially save lives, might not to be too much of a bad thing. Saying that you can actually buy cheaper insurance where you're not allowed to drive past 11PM (They put GPS trackers in your car to make sure!).