The Department for Transport has previously admitted that young people are disproportionately affected by road deaths and injuries and that the government is exploring ways to address this
A whopping 103,000 drivers are rallying behind a petition to put limits on passengers and enforce a curfew on certain motorists. The Road Traffic (Amendment) Act (NI) 2016 in Northern Ireland paved the way for graduated driving licensing, but we’re still waiting for a scheme to kick off.
The proposed restrictions could see new drivers barred from ferrying around mates of the same age for a set period, along with a no-nonsense approach to drink-driving. Support for Graduated Driving Licences has surged recently, with nearly 103,500 people putting their names to a petition backing the changes.
In a recent update, Northern Ireland stated: “Fatal and serious collisions constitute one of the biggest public health threats in Northern Ireland, particularly among young and inexperienced drivers.
“The aim of the Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) scheme is to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries attributed to young drivers/motorcyclists in the age range 17 to 23 and to new drivers/riders in general. GDL will be introduced in the near future, and will establish a revised training and testing regime and some post-test restrictions for car drivers and motorcyclists.”, reports Birmingham Live.
“To assess the impact of GDL on road safety, overall statistics for collisions involving, and caused by young drivers and motorcyclists will be examined. The first report in the series presents data for the five years 2012-2016 and provides the current picture ahead of the launch of GDL.”
The Department for Transport has vowed to keep a keen eye on the stats, with plans to refresh their report yearly.
The goal? To see if the new Graduated Driving Licences (GDL) are making a dent in crash numbers.
A spokesperson from the department shared their heartfelt sentiments: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way.”
They continued, addressing concerns about young drivers: “Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driving Licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers.”
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