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Road Safety

Yes, I agree with the Chair of the Transport Committee. Unfortunately the Government are not prepared to countenance restrictions, and I think that that is a major problem. I am gratified that they have published what is in effect a consultation—and I hope that the contributions made in this debate will form part of the listening exercise that will inform their conclusions—but the decision was a big mistake. It is not as if the Government did not see it coming, because the Transport Committee made it very clear in its excellent report on novice drivers in July 2007 that that was what it wanted. Road accidents, to deal with the point made a few moments ago, are, as we know, the biggest killer of 15 to 24-year-olds, and more than 14 drivers and their passengers are killed on our roads every week. The Transport Committee put it starkly:"““young male drivers are now the biggest killer of young women in this country.””" Young men—I should say ““some young men””—behind the wheel are a menace to themselves and others. I congratulate the Library on the excellent paper that it produced for this debate, but that paper told us only what we already suspected: young drivers have a high number of crashes when driving at night and on weekends, and when carrying young passengers. We know that as a fact. The early hours of the morning are the worst. I am sorry to bombard colleagues with statistics, but the statistics make the case. Male drivers aged between 17 and 20 have 17 times more risk of having an accident between 2 o'clock and 5 o'clock in the morning than all male drivers. Half of all accidents involving young people happen at night. I am listening to myself speak, and it sounds as though I am demonising young people. I am not; I am drawing attention to the facts of driving life as they affect young people. Young people aged between 17 and 20 are more likely to be in a crash where only their vehicle is involved. Here is a fascinating statistic: the probability that a young driver will have an accident is 39 per cent. higher if there is another young person in the car with them. The probability is 85 per cent. higher if there are two or more young passengers, and 182 per cent. higher if there are three or more, geeing on the driver. I do not know what it is—a rush of adrenalin or a macho thing—but the drivers lose control.