Dallas McMillan's Blog

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is renewing its call on the government to make driving on rural A-roads a mandatory part of the driving test.

IAM research shows that 82% of rural fatal and serious casualties are on single carriageway roads compared with just 18% on motorways and dual carriageway roads.

However the current driving test fails to take this into account. While good instructors understand that experience on a wide variety of roads in different conditions gives young people the best chance of survival, all too many merely educate up to the existing test standard. Knowledge of parking, emergency stops and low speed manoeuvres is important but dealing with high speed corners, bad weather, and overtaking are far more vital skills.

The recent report from the IAM 'The fast and the curious', found that new drivers themselves felt unprepared for real life scenarios and would welcome extra help.

The IAM has written to the road safety minister to outline its views on how it believes the government should tackle deaths and accidents of the highest risk group on our roads, young drivers. This starts with improving the driving test to include training on our most dangerous roads – single-carriageway rural A-roads.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: “Driver and rider error is a contributory factor in two thirds of accidents. We can only improve our cars and roads so far. The challenge now is to improve the humans that drive them, to continue our outstanding record of road safety.”

The Court of Session has ruled that responsibility for a car crash that killed two people and severely injured a third was shared equally between two of the drivers involved, reports the Scotsman.

Thirteen-year-old Kaya McInnes survived the accident, which happened in the Highlands in 2007, but was so badly injured she needed to learn to walk again. It was recognised that she was entitled to compensation, however liability for payment was disputed between the insurance companies of the two drivers at fault.

The Court ruling means that both companies, Norwich Union and Axa, will both be liable to pay an equal share of the compensation. According to the Scotsman, the exact amount of money involved has not been revealed.

A recent survey by road safety charity Brake and Direct Line Car Insurance has revealed that one in nine young drivers (11%) has driven after taking illegal drugs in the past year.

The survey also found that 3% of young drivers (age 17-24) said they get behind the wheel after taking drugs once a month or more. Slightly more young drivers are admitting drug driving than four years ago, when one in eleven young drivers (9%) owned up to this potentially deadly behaviour.

Brake is calling for long-needed reform, including:

• A new law making it an offence to drive while on illegal drugs, to rectify the current loophole. Currently it is only an offence to drive while impaired by drugs, meaning police must prove impairment to prosecute.
• Approval and roll-out of roadside drug screening devices, so police can test for drugs at the roadside and immediately following a crash.

Drug driving is a widespread menace. In the UK, around 18% of people killed in road crashes have traces of illegal drugs in their blood, with cannabis being the most common. Young drivers are much more likely to take illegal drugs and drive than their older counterparts. Drivers under 25 years old are nearly four times as likely to drive on illegal drugs as older drivers (11% compared to 3%).

Ellen Booth, Brake senior campaigns officer, said: "The risks of driving on drugs are huge, and the consequences devastating – yet a huge proportion of young drivers are taking this appalling gamble with their own and others' lives. We need all drivers to pledge to never mix drugs and driving, and we need the government to follow through with its commitment to tackle this problem."

Young people who have lost loved ones in devastating young driver crashes are calling for action to tackle the biggest killer of people their age at the launch of Road Safety Week, coordinated by the charity Brake.

Their calls are in response to a UK survey of 8,110 young people by Brake and QBE Insurance, showing more than half (56%) fear for their lives at times when a passenger with a young driver, and most (57%) have been endangered by risk-taking peers speeding or drink driving. The vast majority also support a tougher regime for novice drivers: 82% are in favour of at least one type of licence restriction, such as a zero-tolerance alcohol limit and tougher penalties.

Casualty statistics revealed by Brake show that every 18 hours a young person is killed on UK roads, leaving behind devastated family and friends. Every hour-and-a-half, another young person suffers a serious injury on UK roads, in many cases life-changing injuries such as brain damage, paralysis or limb loss.

Young drivers are also involved in a disproportionately high number of crashes that kill and injure road users of all ages. Young drivers (age 17-24) are involved in crashes that result in one in four road deaths and serious injuries (24%) – 17 deaths and serious injuries every day – despite only making up one in eight (12%) licence holders.