Government must act now to save young lives

5.53.29pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 23rd Apr 2007

Mark with the Association of British Insurers calls for the Government to act to save young lives

Local MP Mark Hunter today (18th April) joined the Association of British Insurers (ABI) in calling for the Government to act to reduce the high number of young people killed or seriously injured on the UK's roads. Mr Hunter attended a reception organised by the ABI to raise awareness of number of road crashes involving young drivers. Road crashes are the biggest killer of young people, with four people killed or seriously injured by young drivers every day.

Speaking after the event, Mr Hunter said; "Every death of a young driver is a tragedy, with too many young drivers ill-equipped for the dangers of driving. The Government should be acting to ensure that young drivers are more equipped for the dangers of driving.

Speaking myself as a parent of two teenagers, one of whom has just passed her test and the other currently taking driving lessons; I believe more needs to be done to tackle the problem of accidents involving young drivers.

I therefore join the ABI is calling for Government to introduce new measures to reduce the number of road accidents involving young people. These measures could include; a new learning programme including different road and traffic conditions that learner drivers should take part in before taking the test, a minimum learning period before the driving test, and passenger number restrictions for novice drivers.

The Government needs to proactively look into this problem and act quickly to prevent the tragic accidents happening daily."