A graduated driver licensing scheme to support new young drivers
The RAC Foundation has been involved with various organisations in exploring the case for adopting some form of licensing for newly qualified young drivers that would ease them more safely than is currently the case into the world of motoring beyond passing their practical driving test.
Such a scheme is often known as ‘graduated driver licensing’ (GDL), and in some cases ‘progressive driver licensing’.
Many countries have adopted GDL in various forms to help protect new young drivers, their passengers and other road users they encounter.
GDL comprises a menu of options, not a single, fixed proposition. The absence of a clear proposal for the form GDL could sensibly take in Great Britain, recognising our existing rules, such as the age at which individuals can legally obtain a full car driving licence, risks causing confusion and fuelling concerns about highly restrictive options. The RAC Foundation view is that GDL could be applied in Great Britain in a way that would positively support safe mobility for young drivers.
We have therefore drafted a note setting out a firm proposal which, whilst not set in stone, should help focus debate and start to crystallise opinion around a practical and proportionate form of GDL for this country.
In this analysis road casualty data from 2022 is used to determine the benefits of GDL. The proposal will be updated with recently published 2023 data in due course.
