The statistics make stark reading:
- Traffic crashes are the single greatest killer of those aged 15-24
- Up to 30% of fatal road crashes involve a young driver
These and other equally horrifying facts have recently been confirmed by a group of expert researchers, courtesy of a two-year international study (see editor’s note). In response, IAM Fleet (the occupational driver training arm of the IAM, the UK’s leading road safety charity) has launched the ‘Young Driver Development Course’ (YDDC) – a heavily subsidised initiative to help reduce the death toll among 17-25 year old drivers.
YDDC
IAM Fleet is making the 2:1 (two pupils to one instructor) half-day course available to all its corporate clients, among whom all full licence holders under the age of 25 will be eligible. The cost is just £30 plus VAT per driver. For the fee, participants will also be made an Associate of the IAM for 12 months FREE-OF-CHARGE and receive a copy of ‘How To Be An Advanced Driver’ – the IAM manual.
The YDDC offers a considerable saving over the usual cost of driver training and, should a participant wish to go on and take the Advanced Driving Test, then the ‘Skill for Life’ programme is available to them at a discounted cost of £70.
Said IAM Fleet’s UK Business Manager Derek Camp, “We all have a responsibility to help minimise the number of young lives either lost or ruined on our roads every day. Thanks to our position in the driver training market, we are able to deploy our professional resources to help minimise the carnage. Reaching young drivers in this way is going to make a significant contribution to road safety – they are a particularly vulnerable group,” said Mr Camp.
“The YDDC is incredible value for money and we very much hope it will help to profoundly reduce the death toll of Britain’s young drivers.”
For further information about the YDDC course or IAM Fleet in general, refer to our website or call the customer support team on 0845 310 8311.
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Editor’s note:
1. The international study referred to in this press release is entitled ‘Young Drivers: The Road to Safety’ and is published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT). For more info refer to www.oecd.org
Additional statistics:
1. Passengers
- More women aged 17- 19 years die as passengers than as drivers.
- Young drivers are twice as likely to die in a road crash when carrying passengers of their own age, with one young passenger making an accident twice as likely, two or more making it five times as likely.
- Novice drivers admit that their driving is adversely affected by the presence of their peers and, conversely, improves when they are accompanied by their parents or other mature adults.
2. Young male drivers
- One in three road accidents involves men under the age of 20.
- Young male drivers - despite passing the driving test more easily than females - are involved in a higher number of accidents.
- If involved in an accident, a male driver aged 17-20 years is nine times more likely to be at fault than a driver aged 31-40 years with the same length of driving experience.
3. General
- For every 10 young drivers that are killed, more than 13 other people are likely die in the same crashes.
- 78% of all young drivers - and 83% of young males - described themselves as 'confident' or 'very confident' drivers.
- 40% admitted to breaking the speed limit 'regularly' or 'quite often'.
- Respondents perceived 'lack of attention' to be the most likely reason for a serious accident. 'Going too fast' came second.
- 79% said killing someone else would be worse than killing himself or herself.
- 69% said that, for them, paralysis would be a worse outcome than death.
- The worst possible outcome was felt to be killing a friend or family member travelling in a car driven by a young driver. This was considered far worse than killing an unknown pedestrian - even a child.
- Drivers aged 21-25 years no longer consider themselves young. They see the phrase 'young driver' as relating to length of driving experience rather than age.
- Young people consider themselves to be better drivers than older people - predominantly because of 'quick reactions'.
- Over 1000 young lives are lost each year on UK roads.
- The first two years after passing the driving test are the most lethal. Novice drivers form just 7% of the driving population but have 12% of injury accidents.
- Research shows that accident liability is reduced by nearly half after two years' driving experience.
- One in five drivers crash within their first year of driving and 26% of convictions for causing death by dangerous driving are against under 21s.
- 89% of companies have a minimum age at which an employee can drive on company business. Almost three quarters gave a minimum age of 21 and the remainder 25 years of age.
- Extending the learner period has reduced crashes in other parts of the world. In New Zealand an 8% reduction has been achieved - in Florida the figure is 9% and in Quebec 12%. Ontario's fatality rate for new drivers is also down by 24%.
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