Passenger numbers 'should be limited for young drivers'

Apr 2 2008

The number of passengers young drivers can carry in their vehicles should be restricted, it has been claimed.

Young Car Finance customers could be among those who potentially risk their own safety and the wellbeing of others when travelling with passengers.

According to the Association of British Insurers (ABI), restricting the number of passengers allowed to be carried by young motorists could help reduce driver casualties by a third.

It proposes that motorists under the age of 20 should only be permitted to carry one passenger at a time for the six months after they have passed their test.

"Inexperience is the biggest danger facing young motorists, but peer pressure is a close second," Nick Starling, the ABI's director of general insurance and health, recently told the Transport Select Committee.

"Our evidence shows that an 18-year-old novice driver is three times as likely to be involved in a collision than a driver in their forties."

Meanwhile, Allan Williams of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has said that there is a link between carrying passengers and an elevated crash risk.

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