THE driving test would be made tougher in a bid to cut accident and death rates among young drivers under plans being considered by the Government.
Among the measures under consideration is the possibility of expanding the current 40-minute practical test into a two-stage process. This would cover a wide range of skills, including night-driving and the use of different types of road such as moto
rways as well as smaller routes.
The changes could also make it compulsory to have a certain level of formal training before sitting the test, Road Safety Minister Stephen Ladyman said today.
The Driving Standards Agency is understood to be looking at the Swedish system under which young people accumulate 120 hours of driver training before taking their test. The introduction of road safety sessions into the school curriculum to counter the reckless attitude which some teenagers - particularly boys - have when they first get behind the wheel is also being considered.
Nearly 100 young people were killed or injured in road accidents in Lothian and Borders in 2005, according to road safety charity Brake. The charity said the number of people aged 15-25 who died on Lothian and Borders roads in 2005 was eight, with a further 85 seriously injured.
Brake also surveyed hundreds of young people across Scotland and found 30 per cent had driven or been a passenger in a road race, 30 per cent have driven without a licence and 49 per cent had broken the speed limit.
Mr Ladyman is thought to want to tackle the problem of would-be drivers being taught the skills needed to pass the test without tackling their attitude safety.
He said today: "We may need to start doing driver education while young people are still at school, introducing them to the rules, dangers and responsibilities of the road at a much earlier age.
"We have developed this attitude that you first learn to pass the test and then you learn to drive.
"It's an option to have more formal training. We have to debate whether there should be some level of compulsion."
He made clear that changes to the test itself were being considered, adding: "It may need to be expanded significantly and made much more thorough."
A total of 26 people were killed on roads in Edinburgh and the Lothians between January and September 2006 - almost twice as many as in the same period in the previous year.
After a run of seven deaths in two months last summer, police chiefs warned that too many young motorists who have no idea they are driving "killing machines".
The DSA is looking at a range of possible changes to encourage better safety, and a consultation is expected to be launched later this year, though a Department for Transport spokesman stressed no firm proposals had yet been put forward. At present, there is no requirement to have undertaken any formal training before taking the test. Research by the Department for Transport reveals that young males have the best pass rates in the driving test despite being the most dangerous drivers once they pass.
Male drivers aged 17-20 are almost ten times more likely to be killed or seriously injured behind the wheel than men aged 40-59, while young women also have far lower accident rates.
The full article contains 561 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
