Skip to main content

UK’s young drivers diminishing in number

Data available from the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) shows a continuing drop in the number of young people learning to drive. According to DfT research, fewer teenagers and young adults are now taking driving lessons or sitting driving tests than in previous decades. The cost of insurance is thought to be a major factor, since insurance firms have begun using more accurate calculations to determine the risk of young adults being involved in a crash. This has led to a massive jump in insurance premium
September 12, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Data available from the UK’s 5432 Department for Transport (DfT) shows a continuing drop in the number of young people learning to drive. According to DfT research, fewer teenagers and young adults are now taking driving lessons or sitting driving tests than in previous decades. The cost of insurance is thought to be a major factor, since insurance firms have begun using more accurate calculations to determine the risk of young adults being involved in a crash. This has led to a massive jump in insurance premiums for young drivers. The DfT has also calculated that young drivers aged 17-24 have eight times the risk of being involved in a crash than the average driver. The DfT’s data shows that only a third of young men now pass their driving test while still a teenager, compared with 51% in the mid-1990s. However there has only been a comparatively small drop in the number of young females passing their driving test.

The issue of falling interest in driving and cars has been noted in other countries and by auto manufacturers. However. Car firms are engaging in a major debate over encouraging young people to drive, although the issue is more complicated due to the emergence of autonomous car technology.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Higher production from all-wheel-drive haulers
    August 2, 2012
    The improvements to articulated dump trucks (ADTs) have been substantial in recent years. Comparing a present day machine with one from 20 or even just 10 years ago shows how far design has come. Major improvements have been made in visibility, operator comfort levels, rough terrain performance, driveline efficiency and productivity, to name but a few key areas. All of the latest generation ADTs available on the world market now come with Tier 3/Stage IIIA compliant diesels that produce far lower noise and
  • Growth in attendance for UK Construction Week show
    October 13, 2023
    The UK Construction Week 2023 show has seen a boost in attendance.
  • Analysing intelligent speed adaptation benefits
    February 22, 2012
    Oliver Carsten, Professor of Transport Safety at the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds, UK, discusses Intelligent Speed Adaptation, looking at its safety potential
  • Improve highway barriers to cope with higher speed
    February 24, 2012
    The UK association Britpave, the British In-situ Concrete Paving Association group, is keen to ensure that the country’s major highways will be able to cope with proposed speed limit increases. According to Britpave much of the UK motorway central reservation barriers may not be fit-for-purpose if the speed limit is increased from112-128km/h (70-80mph) as proposed recently.