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

  • IAM says more action needed to cut UK road casualty numbers
    November 1, 2012
    IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) director Neil Greig said “much more” needed to be done to sustain an encouraging drop in the latest published quarterly road casualty statistics for the UK. The latest Department for Transport figures revealed 400 people were killed in road accidents in Britain between April-June 2012 – down 18% than the 487 killed over the same period of 2011. The total number of casualties was 47,880 between April-June 2012, a fall of 7% on the 51,580 in Q2 2011.
  • Improving road safety a priority beyond politics
    February 23, 2012
    Figures have long since become an important part of our daily lives. Data on all the humdrum events around us is regularly used to shape political policy that is in most instances, designed to improve our well-being.
  • More driver licence screening for UK?
    April 25, 2012
    Anomalies regarding the return of driving licenses to people found guilty of serious driving offences have been uncovered in the UK. In a number of instances, these drivers have then gone on to commit more driving offences and in at least two cases, causing fatalities.
  • India’s IRTE wins top Prince Michael of Kent Safety Award
    July 4, 2019
    India’s Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE) was among the international winners at the annual Prince Michael International Road Safety Awards in London. IRTE picked up the Premier Award for its road injury prevention programme and for being a key partner in the Safer Cars for India project established by Global NCAP, an independent certification body that evaluates the safety of vehicles. Part of IRTE’s strategy has been the setting up of what is believed to be Asia’s first Masters of Science i