HC Deb 24 October 1988 vol 139 cc109-10W
65. Mr. Atkinson

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what studies his Department has made on the road safety performance of drivers within the first year of holding their licence.

Mr. Peter Bottomley

Last year the behavioural studies unit of TRRL commissioned National Opinion Polls Limited (NOP) to carry out a survey among drivers. It includes a survey of 10,000 young drivers aged between 17 and 22.

Preliminary results of the study show that 17 to 18-year-old males on average had 1.05 accidents over a three-year period, with females in that age range having 0.63 per three years—giving an average time interval between accidents of 2.9 years for males and 4.8 years for females. The TRRL is at present carrying out an in-depth analysis of the results. A full report should be ready in the spring.

This study builds on a TRRL survey in 1979 to discover more about the process of learning to drive cars, and how the drivers fared in their first year of driving after passing the driving test.