Two in three young people say they have been a passenger in a speeding car, and more than half of those put their lives at risk by not asking the driver to slow down, according to a survey from Brake and CIS Co-operative Insurance (CIS).
4,500 young people aged 15 to 25 were questioned and 65% said they had been a passenger in a car driven at more than 40mph in a 30mph limit or more than 70mph on a rural road.
Of these, only 42% asked the driver to slow down. Speed is a factor in a third of fatal road crashes and breaking a limit by just a few miles per hour can be lethal. A pedestrian is twice as likely to die if they are hit at 35mph rather than 30mph.
Government statistics show that in 2005 a shocking 1,297 people died and a further 11,535 were seriously injured in a crash involving a driver or rider aged 15 to 25 so Brake is calling for the Government to make road safety education a compulsory part of the national curriculum.
The problem is that no matter how much education you give these youngsters, there will always be a few defiant young drivers who simply will not be told and genuinely believe they are indestructible.
Well they may be, but their passengers may not. Ban the guilty drivers for at least five years. That should be a good enough deterrent.
Jackie Violet