Driving licence proposals could see more restrictions placed on motorists

The rules would bar them from carrying passengers of similar age during their first six months on the road, a period many campaigners have warned is the most dangerous.

The push for reform has surged in recent months, fuelled by a petition signed by more than 100,000 people, led by bereaved mother Crystal Owen, whose 17-year-old son Harvey was killed alongside three friends in a crash in Wales last November.

Their vehicle, driven by a newly licenced teenager, veered off the road and plunged into a water-filled ditch.

Campaigners have now argued that if the UK introduced similar rules to those already in place in Australia, Canada, and France, hundreds of lives could be saved every year.

In those countries, youth road deaths have fallen by between 20 and 40 per cent following comparable reforms.

Under the proposed system, learner drivers would need at least six months‘ supervised experience before sitting their test.

Once qualified, those aged 17 to 19 would be barred from carrying passengers under 25 unless an older adult was present.

But exceptions would apply for young parents transporting their own children, those with mobility allowances, and members of the armed forces driving to work.

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Breaching the restrictions would lead to six penalty points, which could be enough to trigger an automatic licence suspension and a mandatory retest under current law.

Despite growing support, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has ruled out introducing passenger restrictions as part of the Government’s forthcoming Road Safety Strategy, due later this year.

Speaking on BBC Politics West, the Swindon South MP acknowledged that young drivers are “disproportionately at risk” but insisted that such restrictions would not be included in the strategy.

She said: “The Government is considering options for how we can better protect young drivers, but we will not be including graduated licencing at this stage.”

The Department for Transport argued that introducing blanket restrictions would unfairly “penalise responsible young motorists.”

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However, campaigners warned that ministers are ignoring a national crisis.

Bridget Lucas, from Cricklade, Wiltshire, whose 20-year-old son Lawrence Bruce died in a 2022 crash caused by driver fatigue, has become one of the most vocal advocates for reform.

“The Government will have blood on their hands if they continue to ignore this epidemic of death,” she said.

“A simple first step would be to stop young drivers carrying peer-aged passengers for six months after they pass their test.”

The accident that claimed Lawrence’s life also killed 18-year-olds Joseph Sharpe and Callum Leighton. An investigation ruled the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel.

Ms Lucas stated that her son’s death could have been preventable. “Too many families are going through what we’ve been through. These are needless, avoidable deaths,” she said.

AA President Edmund King warned that the Government’s refusal to act risks lives, calling the absence of young driver measures in the new Road Safety Strategy a “glaring omission.”

He said that evidence from other countries shows that adopting similar rules could prevent “at least 58 deaths and 934 serious injuries” every year in the UK.

Currently, around 5,000 people are killed or seriously injured annually in crashes involving drivers aged 25 or under. One in five newly qualified motorists has a collision within their first year behind the wheel.

Ms Owen said she won’t stop fighting until ministers act. “We’re not asking for the impossible,” she said. “We’re asking for change that will save lives.”