Newly qualified young drivers have a serious problem – data shows that one in five are involved in a collision within six months of passing their test, according to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.

Such a shocking statistic has led to calls from parents, MPs, teachers and road safety charities to include driving lessons at school.

According to a survey of 2,700 parents and grandparents conducted by the under-17s driving school, Young Driver, 65% of people think that in-school lessons should be introduced. And the data suggests it could work as collision rates fall to just 3.4% among pupils who have had lessons via the company.

Receptive audience

Importantly, research reveals that parents believe that children are more receptive to road safety concepts at an earlier age. “Learning to be a good driver takes time, patience and experience,” says Young Driver’s Adrian Harding, “and school is the best place to start that process.”

“Having delivered more than a million pre-17 driving lessons, we’ve seen the difference early education makes. In our research, past pupils were 84% less likely to have an accident in their first six months of driving compared to the national average.”

Adrian Harding, Young Driver Foundation

Parliamentary backing

The call for driving lessons in schools has been met with approval from MPs. For instance, Caroline Nokes, Conservative MP for Romsey and Southampton North, was impressed with the Young Driver programme she visited and said “we know the accident statistics for young drivers need improvement, and these programmes can really help. If included in the curriculum, they could save lives and reduce collisions on our roads.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by Euan Stainbank, Labour MP for Falkirk who said, “the opportunity to learn under professional instruction before 17 can only enhance road safety for new drivers.”

Educators are also on board including Jo Lawrence, Vice Principal at Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College in Birmingham, who believes, “too many young lives are lost on our roads each year,” and by providing students with “the opportunity to learn about safe driving helps equip them with vital skills and awareness that could one day save lives.”

Track record

Set up in 2009, the Young Driver pre-17 training scheme has delivered over 1.5 millions lessons. This year alone, it has held 109 school events and delivered 4,500 lessons to students. These are conducted on private land where teens experience driving in a dual-controlled vehicle.

Even younger kids aged four to nine can learn about the basics of road safety in a controlled environment by driving Firefly Sport electric cars. These are specially designed for youngsters with a remote-controlled cutoff and sensors that can automatically stop the car if they hit an obstacle.

Way forward

While questions remain about the practicalities of a driving lesson rollout in school curriculums , we believe anything that reduces the worrying collision rate involving newly qualified drivers can only be a good thing.

Especially as the government has recently ruled out Graduated Driving Licensing, which would have placed limits on what drivers can and cannot do during the first two years of qualifying.

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