The over-representation of young novice drivers in road collisions is a public health risk in Great Britain (GB), and worldwide. The key contributory factors to this problem are known and are cross-cultural; they are youth and inexperience. This report reviewed and synthesised evidence of effectiveness for three approaches to tackling young and novice driver safety, for consideration in GB: 1.Pre-driver education and training for those under 17 years old; 2.Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL); 3.The Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act (1995). While provision of pre-driver education and training is widespread, evidence of effectiveness is absent. Conversely, evidence of the effectiveness of GDL from countries where it has been implemented is strong and consistent. The New Drivers Act appears to have had a beneficial effect on offending patterns in GB and may have had a safety benefit through deterrence from driving. Based on the evidence, it is recommended that licensing in GB be based on a full GDL system. Analysis of STATS19 data and evidence of effectiveness in other countries suggests that a GDL system in GB could save 4,471 casualties and £224 million annually based on 17-19 year old drivers only.
Abstract
The over-representation of young novice drivers in road collisions is a public health risk in Great Britain (GB), and worldwide. The key contributory factors to this problem are known and are cross-cultural; they are youth and inexperience. This report reviewed and synthesised evidence of effectiveness for three approaches to tackling young and novice driver safety, for consideration in GB: 1.Pre-driver education and training for those under 17 years old; 2.Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL); 3.The Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act (1995). While provision of pre-driver education and training is widespread, evidence of effectiveness is absent. Conversely, evidence of the effectiveness of GDL from countries where it has been implemented is strong and consistent. The New Drivers Act appears to have had a beneficial effect on offending patterns in GB and may have had a safety benefit through deterrence from driving. Based on the evidence, it is recommended that licensing in GB be based on a full GDL system. Analysis of STATS19 data and evidence of effectiveness in other countries suggests that a GDL system in GB could save 4,471 casualties and £224 million annually based on 17-19 year old drivers only.
Main findings
Pre-driver education
There is extensive provision of pre-driver education and training in GB via numerous public, private and charitable organisations. These interventions can be categorised as seeking to improve safety by aiming to satisfy one or more of the following: influencing attitudes, imparting knowledge, and improving skills. Very few interventions have been evaluated and most evaluations that have been undertaken are of such low scientific quality that their results cannot be taken as reliable. The evidence base for pre-driver education and training is weak at best, and effectively non-existent when collisions and injuries are used as the outcome of interest. No properly-evaluated intervention has demonstrated a reliable reduction in novice driver collisions.
Graduated Driver Licensing
GDL is effective at reducing collisions in countries where it has been implemented and the quality of the evidence is high. The evidence is consistent and the potential public health benefits of a GDL system for new drivers are indisputable. Overall effectiveness of a GDL system is dependent on the number of components implemented, the strength (strictness) of those components, and the conviction with which the system is implemented by authorities. It is estimated that a GDL system in GB would result in annual savings of 4,471 casualties and £224 million, although may range from savings of 2,236 casualties and £112 million to 8,942 casualties and £447 million depending on the effectiveness of the system. This analysis only considered drivers between 17-19 years old; a system that applied to all new drivers would be expected to achieve even greater casualty and cost savings.
New Drivers Act
- Around 10% of novice drivers are caught for committing an offence within their probationary period. Around 2% of drivers have their licence revoked under the New Drivers Act.
- Analyses show a reduction in the proportion of drivers with two or more offences, a reduction in the number of offences overall and a substantial reduction in the proportion of new drivers with six or more points since the introduction of the New Drivers Act. Therefore, the data overall suggest that the Act may be having a beneficial effect on new drivers’ offending patterns.