Skip to main content

Young drivers admit they are unsafe

Nearly half of new young drivers in the UK admit they are unsafe on the road and think that they are not being taught enough about road safety, with two thirds of parents agreeing, according to a new report. The poll of 1,000 young motorists and their parents found that 50 per cent of drivers under 24 would not know where to start with basics like checking their tyres. Less than half of young road users know what the legal tyre tread limit is and one in five have no idea what solution, such as a spare ty
September 30, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Nearly half of new young drivers in the UK admit they are unsafe on the road and think that they are not being taught enough about road safety, with two thirds of parents agreeing, according to a new report.

The poll of 1,000 young motorists and their parents found that 50 per cent of drivers under 24 would not know where to start with basics like checking their tyres. Less than half of young road users know what the legal tyre tread limit is and one in five have no idea what solution, such as a spare tyre, they have available in an event of a puncture.

Mark Griffiths of Continental Tyres, which carried out the research, said: “Every day in the UK, around nine people die or are seriously injured from a road accident that involves a young car driver. It is vital for 17 to 24 year olds to receive adequate road safety information as they learn to drive, setting them up for a lifetime of safe motoring.”

Related Content

  • February 28, 2013
    Driverless vehicles just around the corner?
    umors that self-driving taxis are about to hit the streets of Las Vegas have turned out to be untrue… but the age of the driverless vehicle is only just around the corner, as Pete Goldin finds out. From Herbie the Love Bug to Knight Rider to the cast of the Pixar film Cars, the autono­mous auto has long been a beloved icon in the entertainment industry. But how close is the fiction to fact? The general public might be surprised to find out just how soon autonomous vehicles could be driving on our roadways.
  • October 21, 2014
    London’s strategy to tackle air quality problems
    Colin Sowman talks to Matthew Pencharz, the man charged with charting London’s path between catering for traveller needs, conserving ancient buildings and conforming to modern air quality standards.
  • October 26, 2016
    Building the case for photo enforcement
    As red light enforcement is returning to some intersections and being shut down at others, new evidence has been released backing the safety campaigners, reports Jon Masters. In 2014, 709 Americans were killed in red-light-running crashes and an estimated 126,000 were injured according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
  • May 9, 2014
    Motorists worried about safety on smart motorways
    The UK’s Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) is calling for more information and advice on smart motorways for drivers. The call comes after seventy-one per cent of drivers said they would feel less safe on a motorway with no hard shoulder than a motorway with one, according to the latest poll by the IAM.