Learner Drivers to practice on Rural Roads?

In light of the recent statistics regarding road traffic accidents caused by young drivers, charities such as Brake have put forward proposals that learner drivers should practise on rural roads.

Who are Brake?

Brake is a national road safety charity, founded in 1995, for the purpose of attempting to prevent needless deaths and serious injuries that unfortunately occur on UK roads every day.

Brakes director of campaigns, James Wakeford, has described novice drivers on rural roads as “lethal”. He certainly has a point given that 120 young drivers died in crashes in 2015 alone. 80% of those crashes took place on rural roads, 16% on urban roads and 4% on motorways- according to the department for transport figures.

Brake’s proposal

Brake is arguing for a total overhaul of the current lessons for learner drivers in an attempt to reduce fatalities and injuries. They have proposed a minimum learning period and mandatory training on rural roads, where many accidents tend to occur. It appears that young new drivers are tempted to speed in such locations, without being aware of the extreme risks to themselves and others. Brake are looking to change this.

This approach can be viewed as being very desirable given that other countries such as Austrailia and New Zealand have adopted similar provisions and the number of such casualties have been reduced in these countries.

Personal experiences Alison Eames strongly backs the proposals based on her own experiences.

Alison was riding her horse where she was hit by a car. The horse had to be put down as the collision broke his spine.

Alison went on to state “I don’t think that this is down to bad driving. I think sometimes it is down to people not understanding. If people have got knowledge, then they make different decisions”. Many would argue that had the driver received the appropriate trainning as proposed by Brake, then this incident could have been avoided.

To conclude, it would appear that the proposals put forward by Brake would be beneficial to learner drivers and other road users generally. In light of recent statistics involving death and injury on country roads, the Government will be hard pressed not to seriously contemplate the new proposals.

Unfortunately, the proposals are not yet in place and accidents continue to happen on a daily basis. If you are involved in a road traffic accident with a novice driver or otherwise, please do not hesitate to call CLS on 01254 297130 and we will fight for the compensation you deserve.

The Road Traffic Team is led by Andrew Bell, Partner and Mel Potts, Senior Associate Solicitor. We are committed to promoting road safety and reducing the occurrence of preventable accidents. However when incidents to occur we will always ensure that rehabilitation is achieved and damages are maximised.