Call for curfew for young drivers

Young have disproportionate amount of accidents

Young drivers should be subject to a night-time curfew to reduce the risk of accidents, a safety group has said.

Every hour a young person is killed or seriously injured while travelling in a car, says Brake.

A survey to coincide with Road Safety Week said a third of young drivers have been in a car while the driver was racing a friend.

Half of them break the speed limit by at least 10 mph and one in five drive while drunk, the survey suggested.

It also found that one in 10 young people aged between 15 and 24 drive under the influence of drugs.

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Brake says learners should have to have lessons for a set period before taking their test, and says that when they have passed they must accept restrictions on the number of passengers they can carry.

The government has yet to take convincing action to tackle the problem, the group says.

Currently, the New Drivers Act 1997 imposes two years' probation on all those who pass their test.

Lessons call

If they amass six penalty points in that time - rather than the normal 12 - they will have their licence revoked.

The Association of British Insurers recently called for a minimum of 12 months' lessons before a test can be taken.

Kathy Keeler, head of road safety campaigns for Brake, said a system of slowly gaining a driving licence over the course of two to three years would be ideal.

One former illegal racer told BBC News of the pastime that had left him seriously injured.

Nick Butcher, 22, from Cardiff, said: "I'm what a few people might call a boy racer or a reformed boy racer. I used to race in a lot of illegal things on the roads.

"I had a serious RTA last year in Haverfordwest which killed me, basically - it killed me two or three times.

"I've now got 90% titanium in my head - most of my face is constructed of titanium plates. I'm blind in my left eye, partially in my right. Deaf in my left ear, partially in my right, I've no sense of smell, no sense of taste.

"I still enjoy my cars but I know where to draw the line."