New Drivers: Accident Risk (Hansard, 22 January 1996)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Viscount Goschen)
My Lords, the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act 1995 provides for a probationary period of two years from the date of first passing a driving test. During that period drivers who accumulate six or more penalty points will have their driving licence revoked and return to learner status until passing a re-test.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that reply, so far as it goes. Can he confirm that a disproportionate number of accidents involve drivers under the age of 20? As newly qualified drivers in Northern Ireland have to display a plate bearing the letter "R" for one year, why cannot something similar be adopted in other parts of the United Kingdom? Is there not more danger to other road users from a newly qualified driver on his own, with no cautionary plate, than from a learner with L-plates who must be accompanied by a qualified passenger?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, my noble friend is correct that there is a disproportionate rate of accidents among young and inexperienced drivers. It is a serious problem. However, there is a lack of clear evidence that the use of probationary plates significantly reduces the number of accidents. In addition, where such schemes exist it is difficult to separate the actual effect of the plate itself from other restrictions that may be associated with it.

§ Lord Skelmersdale
My Lords, is it my noble friend's intention to recommend to the authorities in Northern Ireland that they should do away with the probationary plates?

§ Viscount Goschen
No, my Lords. The system in Northern Ireland has the acceptance of the public and people are used to it. However, there is no clear evidence—it is difficult to compare like with like—that the probationary plate system has a significant effect and that we should adopt it.

§ Lord Clinton-Davis
My Lords, can the Minister inform the House as to when the provisions of the Act, which we fully supported—I am not sure that "we" is strictly correct as it was a Private Member's Bill which I supported in a personal capacity—will come into operation? Will there need to be consultation with the courts concerning the application of the Act? If so, 800 in the interim period, will the Minister agree to look further at the proposal made by the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Croy, as to the efficacy of the probationary driver's plate, which may have some relevance to the requirements in this country?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, those are two slightly different issues. We hope to bring in the provisions of the new drivers Act by commencement order later this year. That will be the machinery that brings it into play. We maintain an open mind on the issue of probationary plates. We looked at schemes used elsewhere, including the scheme in Northern Ireland. At the moment there is a lack of clear evidence that it has a significant effect. If more evidence comes forward, we may reconsider the matter.

§ Lord Campbell of Alloway
My Lords, is there any evidence that newly qualified and perhaps rather timorous drivers cause more accidents than more experienced ones?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, yes. There is a considerable body of evidence on that point. Inexperienced drivers of any age are more likely to have accidents than experienced drivers of the same age. I understand that, taking all age groups together, accident risk reduces by some 30 per cent. once the first year of driving after passing the test has elapsed. That analysis was done by the Transport Research Laboratory.

The Viscount of Falkland
My Lords, following the question of the noble Lord, Lord Campbell of Alloway, do not overall statistics show that British drivers are relatively good? To target novice drivers as a group is probably not right. We should he targeting the loutish and inconsiderate across the whole age range who may not be novice drivers.

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, we must address those people as well. The courts have shown that where people drive badly they receive heavy penalties. It is right that we should concentrate on that aspect. But there is a problem with young and inexperienced drivers. We feel that the provisions of the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act, coupled with better road safety information and schemes designed, for instance, to address the problem of speeding, are the right approach.

§ Lord Carmichael of Kelvingrove
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the department has been studying these statistics for at least 25 years and has resisted almost every effective argument? Is he further aware that the parents of many new drivers have reached the point of impatience and now require those drivers to display green L-plates? I do not know whether those have any official standing but they are an indication to other drivers that someone has recently passed his driving test and therefore needs to be given extra consideration.

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, they arc available if people want to use them, but it is purely voluntary. We have to look at what has been the real effect of such schemes. In Northern Ireland, for instance, the scheme 801 has been operating for 26 years and it has been well accepted. But in Northern Ireland slightly more drivers in their first year have accidents than is the case in Great Britain. The evidence is not there that major road safety gains would be achieved by bringing the scheme into Great Britain.

§ Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton
My Lords, in considering the evidence, will the noble Viscount give an assurance that he will consider the statistics by gender and look at the record of young women drivers as opposed to that of men? Can he confirm—here I must declare an interest as a mother of sons, although none of my sons is now in the appropriate age group— that women drivers of all ages have a better safety record?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, I declare an interest as a man, so perhaps we might not necessarily have exactly the same perspective. If any scheme were introduced it would be equitable to introduce it for both genders.

§ Baroness Gardner of Parkes
My Lords, is it not a fact that the green voluntary L-plates are used only by the timorous or careful driver and certainly not by the real tearaways who are the very ones we would want to identify as probationary drivers within their first two years of driving?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, that may well be the case.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that British drivers as a whole have a better safety record than other nationalities? With reference to the point raised by my noble friend and namesake Lord Campbell of Alloway, is he further aware that a large proportion of all accidents—around 30 per cent.—involve drivers who have been qualified to drive for only a short time and that most other comparable countries have special arrangements or restrictions, going further than those set out in his first reply today, after a person has passed the driving test?

§ Viscount Goschen
Yes, my Lords, many countries have such schemes. But, as I said, it is not altogether clear that the schemes per se have the required effect. We have to look at the actual restrictions in individual cases. Some countries have associated lower speed limits, some a total ban on alcohol consumption, and so on. There are a number of different measures. I believe that in general we have a good road safety record in this country. However, there is room for improvement. That is why we have brought forward schemes to increase driver training after a driver has taken the driving test. As part of the "pass plus" system there are associated insurance benefits.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, the Minister has given answers about the effectiveness or otherwise of schemes which would indicate whether a driver is a new driver. Would he give a comparable answer to the question of whether a speed restriction for new drivers, such as that imposed in France, has any beneficial effect?

§ Viscount Goschen
My Lords, I have sought to indicate that associated with the issue of probationary plates are often a wide range of other measures such as lower speed limits, a complete ban on alcohol, and so on. With many of the schemes there are consequent disadvantages as well. We would have to consider that. For instance, by its very nature imposing a lower speed limit can cause problems with other traffic.