A north road safety campaigner will meet with the UK Government’s junior transport minister to discuss introducing restricted driving licences for young motorists.
Highland MSP David Stewart believes that a graduated licence system can reduce the number of accidents involving motorists who recently passed their tests.
He will meet with Robert Goodwill MP in Westminster on Wednesday, December 10, to discuss his campaign to introduce the licence as a pilot in Scotland.
The proposal involves starting with a 12 month learner phase for drivers aged 17, where they will be required to log 100 hours daytime and 20 hours night time driving.
When the driver is 18 and has passed the theory tests, they will move to a probationary licence. During this phase they would display a green P plate, but night time driving would be curtailed unless assisted by someone aged above 25, and there would be a zero drink drive limit.
Only after 12 months of carrying this probationary licence will the driver be given a full unrestricted licence.
Mr Stewart said: “For nearly five years now, I and my partners in the North of Scotland Driver Awareness Team, have campaigned to have a form of graduated licence introduced as a pilot in Scotland. We all know now that young and new drivers have come to be over represented in road collisions by the fact that they are both over confident and inexperienced.
“Our esteemed colleague, Dr Sarah Jones from Cardiff University, has looked at 10 years of statistics and can prove that up to 22 lives per year could be saved in Scotland alone and up to £80 million to the Scottish economy.
“It is a ‘no brainer’ as far as we are concerned and I will be pushing the Minister to follow our proposals which have recently been mirrored in a Department of Transport document relating to novice drivers.”