Probationary licence for new drivers could save 60 casualties on Berkshire roads

The estimate is based on police figures on the number of accidents nationally involving death or injury which involved a driver aged 17 to 19 between 2008 and 2012.
The RAC has released its figures one week after central government put plans to bring a 12-month probationary period for all new drivers, called a graduated driver licensing (GDL) system, on hold.
While exact details of any potential GDL system for the UK had not been confirmed, the probationary period restrictions could include a ban on 15- to 24-year-old passengers, driving between 9pm and 6am, a lower alcohol limit and displaying a green L-plate, and on gaining a full license a lower number of penalty points permitted before licence removal.
Nationally, 22 per cent of all recorded collisions in 2012 involved at least one driver aged 17 to 24, and nearly a quarter of all car drivers killed on the roads in Great Britain in 2012 were young drivers.
Berkshire had the tenth lowest percentage in England, with 11.7 per cent of all accidents in the county involving a young driver. The areas with lower figures were Cambridgeshire (11.6 per cent), Oxfordshire (11.5), Warwickshire (11.4), Leicestershire (10.7), West Yorkshire (10.2), West Midlands (9.9), Greater Manchester (9.7), Merseyside (9.2) and Greater London (5.6).
The RAC has estimated that if the probationary rules were implemented, it could reduce the number of those killed or seriously injured in collisions involving 17- to 19-year-old drivers in Berkshire by four per year.
The number of casualties would also reduce by around 60 for collisions involving drivers of the same age, the RAC has claimed, saving an estimated £2.3 million a year.
For the whole of Great Britain, a GDL system could reduce the number of casualties by 4,478, killed or seriously injured by 433 and save £200.1m.
Rural parts of England, such as West Berkshire, would benefit the most from a GDL, the RAC said, as young driver collisions make up a greater proportion of serious accidents on rural roads than in urban areas.
Newbury driving instructor Nick Cornish, said the majority of his customers were aged between 17 and 19.
“Anything that will help make our roads safer has to be a good thing,” he said. “Any training that helps drivers, not only newly qualified drivers, improve will bring down the number of accidents on our roads.
“When a new driver passes the driving test they have shown they can drive to a standard without supervision, all they lack is experience. If you don’t give them a full driving licence straight away it puts the responsibility on them to earn the right to have a full licence by having a period of trouble free motoring.”
“The problem with putting restrictions on newly qualified drivers is that it will be difficult to police.”