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Road Safety

I do not want to demonise young people, but I dare say that it is a question not just of drink but of drugs as well. Material published recently by Brake, the road safety charity, tells me that one in three young drivers admits to overtaking when they cannot see what is coming. That slapped me in the face and made me think. I thought about what Gwyneth Dunwoody said in this very place in February this year. She said that young drivers—she meant young male drivers—think that they are invincible. They may think that they are invincible, but they are not. The Government produced a consultation paper in 2001 that discussed driver attitudes, to which my friend the Member for Liverpool, Riverside alluded. The consultation paper said:"““The frequency with which novice drivers report…exceeding the speed limit, driving through a red or amber traffic light, and driving too close to the vehicle in front…strongly predicts the accident liability for both male and female drivers. These drivers tend to be young, male and high mileage drivers. They consider themselves better drivers than others and believe that bad consequences are less likely to result from their actions, and that they will be less serious if they do.””" That is the mindset: ““It's not going to happen to me, and if it does, it'll just be a little scrape.”” There is a problem. The question is: what are we going to do about it? The Government have published a consultation paper, ““Learning to Drive””, which I have in front of me. It was published in May, and it is out for consultation until 8 September. When it was published, the Minister told me of the Government's general line. He said that the Government's"““proposed approach is one based on education and incentivisation, rather than restriction…We believe the evidence supports this approach””." I am not entirely sure that it does. I reread the Transport Committee's report on novice drivers. The evidence submitted by the Department for Transport to the Committee said:"““There is little research evidence that increased formal driver training improves safety.””" Obviously, formal training makes a difference—I am not suggesting that it does not—but it must be part of a basket of measures if we are to bring down the terrible toll of carnage on our roads.