Graduated licencing (GDL) is the name given to a system of restricting those new to driving in various ways as they go about developing their driving skills and gaining experience.
As such, in a way, you could say that the UK already had GDL, because new drivers must get a provisional driving licence
and pass a theory test, followed by a searching practical assessment of their
driving skills before being allowed to have a full licence. Further to that,
their licence is then covered by the New Driver’s Act, which says that it’ll be
revoked (pending a new application for a provisional licence) if they receive 6
or more penalty points within 2yrs of passing their tests.
The news stories you see from time to time are telling you
that the DVSA is looking at strengthening these current systems with the aim of
further reducing the road risk of new drivers on the roads.
The first proper GDL system was introduced
in New Zealand as far back as 1987 and now there are quite a few examples of
similar systems in the USA, Canada and Europe, from which the DVSA can draw
experience before deciding whether to introduce such a scheme here and what to
include in it if it does introduce something.
Common restrictions placed on new drivers include enforcing
minimum time periods, mileage or hours of training before allowing somebody to
take a test, limiting the number or ages of passengers allowed in the car post
test, implementing zero alcohol drink drive limits and not allowing people to
drive at night.
Overall, GDL a good thing, but there are
a few issues:
Firstly, everyone will be agreed that it really should be a
zero alcohol limit for ALL drivers, not just the new ones (I know that for
various reasons a zero limit isn’t practical… but a limit that mandates that
there is no deliberate drinking done whilst driving is a good thing).
Secondly, whilst restricting the use of the roads at night by new drivers has lead to a 60% reduction in road risk in studies from those countries that introduce such measures, I think something should be introduced that doesn’t interfere with people's ability to be flexible at work.
Many young people are working for hospitality, coffee shops etc and either need
to be able to start work early or finish late. They may even work nights. The
challenge is to allow them to function economically, whilst addressing that
road safety need. In October, Northern Ireland will introduce such a system
that mandates new drivers to only drive alone between the hours of 11pm and
6am. I think something like this is the answer.
Without doubt, restricting the age and number of passengers
is a good idea. We can see very clearly from crash data that the more
passengers that are present in a car, the greater the risk of that car crashing
and that risk doesn’t rise in a linear way, it rises exponentially. A single
passenger for example, increases road risk by a factor of 2.5 and a 3rd
passenger increases road risk by 4 times over solo driving. The figures show
that young men are more affected by passenger presence than ladies but throughout
the world, there are no specific restrictions based on road risk for a
particular gender.
With regards to fixed terms for learning periods, whether it
be a time period, a fixed number of professional lessons or a fixed amount of
miles, I think data is a bit skewed in this area for the UK whereas other
countries again report positive results from the introduction of the
restrictions.
We had to cease lessons completely during covid and
obviously some people were already ready for test and had them cancelled due to
the lockdown. Then the government allowed people to practice with parents and
with quiet roads and not many other excuses to leave the house, a lot of people
took up that option. Finally, we were allowed to teach people for about 6wks or
so before tests restarted.
The bottom line is that a lot of people taking tests for
about 18mths after the first lockdown started, were going into it with
8-10times more driving experience than they would have had before covid… but
they weren’t any more successful in taking their tests (not in a meaningful way
anyway). The pass rates remained the same, so we have no data of our own to
support an introduction of this type of restriction.
One thing I’d like to see is a restriction on how far from
home somebody can drive. As I said in my last blog, the driving test was never
intended to be passed one day and for that driver to start work as a high
mileage, long range driver the next day. It simply doesn’t assess the skills
required to do that and with only a small number of people using their driving
licences that way, neither should it in my opinion. Maybe a second test that
can be taken on unfamiliar roads is the answer if you don’t want to gather
gradual experience and need to use the licence for work? I can see no evidence
of any country in the world doing anything like that, but it makes total sense
to me that road risk must be increased massively on unfamiliar roads and we
know from studies that time pressures are a huge factor in driving styles and
behaviours.
Nick Heath Driver Training helps people of all levels and abilities with their driving. Established in 2005 and based on the South Cheshire / North Staffordshire border in the UK, I can help you to obtain a licence, become a driving instructor, regain your driving confidence or reduce your road risk for work purposes. I am a regular contributor to local and national radio when driving items come up in the news and am willing to contribute to the wider driver training conversation
Anyone wanting more information
should call 0800 8 20 2038
