Calls for changes into young driver safety on the day inquest into Westbury crash is heard

ROAD safety campaigners are calling on the Government to take urgent action to prevent the number of deaths and serious accidents to young drivers – and the campaign is being backed locally.

Four teenagers die or are seriously injured each week, according to new figures from the RAC Foundation. The charity and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents wants the government to take action, saying one in five newly qualified young drivers will have an accident within six months of passing their test

The figures were released on the day that an inquest was heard into the deaths of three young men who crashed head-on with a parked lorry in Westbury last year. 

The triple fatality came during a series of road tragedies, with seven young men aged under 25 dying on the roads of Wiltshire in a six-week period last year.

The government is being asked to look into what can be done to prevent accidents involving young new drivers. Suggestions include a restriction on the number of passengers a new, young driver can have in the car, changes in the practical test, a minimum amount of hours of professional tuition, a ban on drinking any alcohol and a new graduated licence scheme.

RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said, “Graduated licensing has been common in many countries for some time and would help keep newly qualified young drivers, and their passengers, safe during the critical first thousand miles after people have passed their test.”

In the inquest into the Westbury accident on the trading estate, it was confirmed that all three men died of head injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene.

David Ridley, senior coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon said that the driver was inexperienced, which would have been a factor in the fatal crash.

He also appealed to around 20 young people who had come to hear the verdict asking them to learn from the loss of their friends and reflect on the effects their deaths have had on their families.

Following the death of a young man in Melksham in November last year, his family and friends are holding fundraisng events to support the charity The Honest Truth, which is a partnership working together to reduce antisocial driving and the number of young people killed or seriously injured on the roads.

Local driving instructor Rachel Coward at Freedom Driving School in Westbury, backed the call for new regulations for young drivers saying, “I believe that the driving test should have certain amendments. For example, motorway driving should be mandatory for new drivers.

“But really, the way forward is for the government to speak to driving instructors. If they want changes to be made, they need to include us in the decisions.

“Experience is needed yes, but ultimately the driving instructor should be preparing you for every type of situation on the road and then the examiner decides whether you are safe enough to drive.”