When many are starting to take their driving lessons at the beginning of the new academic year, the House of Commons transport committee has recently called for the minimum legal driving age, which currently stands at 17, to be raised to 18 years.
This is in a bid to cut the amount of road-deaths on UK roads and help alleviate the growing concern that 50,000 17-year-olds now pass their driving test with less than six months’ driving experience every year.
Figures from 2005 show that there were 19.2 deaths for every 100,000 motorists aged 17 to 21, a worrying rise of 55% compared to 1992.
However, according to the latest research by Motorpoint, the UK’s largest car supermarket, 66% of respondents to a poll on the company’s website think that increasing the age by only one year would not have enough of an impact, and that in fact it should rise by four years to 21.
This could significantly reduce the amount of accidents on the road, but many argue that raising the legal limit to this degree would severely inhibit the independence of the UK’s young population, with statistics showing that 70% of 17-year olds now drive themselves to work. That is quite a statistic.
It’s a Catch 22. Do we raise the age to decrease the accidents or waive these 17 year olds their right to independence?
FemaleFirst