A night-time ban that prevents young drivers from hitting the roads at night could possibly save the lives of 200 or more young drivers every year according to a new study that reports that banning young drivers from night driving, carrying peers in the vehicle, or drinking at all would reduce the amount of road accidents that occur every year.
The study was performed by Cardiff University and reported that NHS costs when it comes to treating those involved in accidents would be reduced significantly if there was a graduated driver licensing program introduced for those between the ages of 17 and 24 years. The system would be in place for the first two years that anyone in this age range held a license.
Similar graduated driver schemes are already in place in countries such as the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. It is known that one out of every five drivers will experience a motor crash in the UK within the first six months of passing the driver’s exam and are overall ten times more likely to be in an accident.
Public health consultant in charge of the research, Sarah Jones, stated that the graduated license scheme works well in other countries and there is no reason to think that it would not produce similar results in the UK. She explained that the purpose of such a scheme is to allow young drivers to get the experience they need on the road in better driving conditions before taking on more difficult driving conditions.
