Julie Townsend draft speaking notes, 10 May event
Tomorrow the UN launches its Decade of Action for Road Safety. Through this global event, the UN, the World Health Organisation, road safety organisations like Brake, and communities around the world, will be taking action on the devastation of road death and injury. Together, as a global community, we will be raising awareness about the 3,500 people whose lives are cutshort, needlessly and violently,every day on the world´sroads, and the tens of thousands more who are injured.Together, we will be taking action to stop this appalling carnage.
What makes road casualties particularly devastating for the families and communities affected is that they disproportionately affect the young. Worldwide, road crashes are thesingle biggest killer of young people, and, shockingly, the same is true here in the UK. Sowhat results in moreyoung people being killed than anything else, globally and nationally, is somethingthat is preventable - something that we have within our powers to address.
Young people are often the victims of road crashes, but they are also often the perpetrators. One in four road deaths and serious injuries in the UKinvolves a young driver. On a daily basis, youngdrivers arecausing, through acombination of inexperience and risk-taking, horrific crashes that kill and maim themselves, their young passengers andother innocent road users.
This daily carnage means that taking action on young driver safety is one of the most important things we must do during this Decade of Action. We must act to help young people drive safely,to protecttheir own lives, and the lives of others. And if we can achieve this, we not only address a factor in a quarter ofserious casualties on our roads, but we also help to create a safer, more responsibleroad user culture for the future.
But can there be a straightforward solution to this huge problem of young driver crashes?
We have a great deal of evidence on the nature of these crashes, and why they happen. We know that young people are far more likely to crash at night, and with their young friends in the car with them. We know that young people are more likely than older drivers to take deadly risks like speeding, overtaking, blind and driving on drugs. And we know that the more experience a young driver gains, the lower their crash risk falls.
And in addition to this understanding of young driver crashes, we can also learn a great deal from what´s been done on this issue around the world. We can learn from the global community, what works in preventing these terrible crashes, deaths and injuries. We can,in particular,learn from countries like New Zealand, Australiaand the United States, where, to improve young driver safety, they have reformed their driver licensing systems, introducing Graduated Driver Licensing.
Graduated Driver Licensing allows new drivers to develop skills and experience gradually, while limiting exposure to risk. Typically, it includes a minimum learning to drive period, followed by a test, followed by a novice driving period, then a final test.During the novice period, there arerestrictions in place– suchas a night time driving curfew, zero drink-drive limit,and limitations on passengers–to help protect the novice driver and other road users. This staged approach allows drivers to build experience over time before attaining a full licence. And arguably, it helps to create a greater respect for the privilege and responsibility of driving. After all, a driving licence is not, we believe,something that should be easily attainable, within a matter ofweeks after turning 17, following just a handful of lessons.
Graduated Driver Licensing has had great success in cutting deaths and injuries in other countries. And we have evidence that the same would be true here in the UK. A study by CardiffUniversity predicted that no fewer than 200 lives would be saved annually. That´s 200 families each year who we could spare a heart-breaking visit from a police officer.A visit where they will be told that their loved one is never coming home, because they have been unexpectedly and violently killed in a road crash. Thousands more people would be spared a devastating,life-altering serious injury.
The fact that Graduated Driver Licensing constitutes best practicehas been recognised by the World Health Organisation. It will be promoting Graduated Driver Licensing as part of its work to spur action towards safer roads during the Decade of Action. We believe that the UK must be on that list of countries that has signed up to this crucial step towards safer roads.
If we are totackle road deaths and serious injuries, which inflict such terrible pain and trauma on so many families each day, and cost society so dearly, we musttake action on young driver crashes. We have a course of action open to us that is evidenced to work, and we have an opportunity at the start of this Decade of Action, to make this vital step. We call on the Government to act now, and I appeal to all of you to work with us to push for action on this crucial issue.