DIA Motormouth
DIA Motormouth
Graduated Licensing - is restricting new drivers the right road to take?
Join DIA CEO Carly Brookfield, respected Transport Psychologist Dr Shaun Helman and regular panellist Chris Bensted to debate whether restricting new driver licences is the right road to take.
Amendments being considered to the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act could open the door to new drivers having their licenses restricted, including being banned from carrying passengers in the first 6 months of driving independently.
And although Government says it has no immediate plans to introduce such restrictions, a debate was held in the House of Commons just a few weeks ago on the subject, led by Transport Minister Richard Holden.
Whilst road safety campaigners will point to the merits of graduated licensing schemes, and where they have been 'successfully' implemented elsewhere in the world, there are still challenges about how effective these measures have been in practice, and concerns about the impact such restrictions may have on the mobility and employability of young people.
Pragmatists also highlight challenges such as how any restrictions will be realistically policed when we can't even stop some from driving without licences and insurance.