By Richard King, Ticker founder and CEO
On Tuesday 28 January, MPs gathered for a House debate on young driver road safety; in particular, new proposals for Graduated Driving Licensing (GDL).
I was invited to listen to the debate in Westminster Hall by UK campaign group ‘Forget Me Not Families Uniting’, a group of bereaved parents who have lost teenaged children in car crashes.
Lilian Greenwood MP, while in opposition as shadow minister, had given full backing to proposals for the introduction of GDL. In her new role (since July) as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Future of Roads, she disappointed the assembled party by sticking to her November U-turn and not giving backing to the introduction of GDL.
In her statement, she said she was reluctant to introduce any new restrictions on newly qualified drivers. However, many proposals for GDL haven’t suggested unreasonably stringent restrictions. The focus should be on teenagers driving with a car full of peers and often not wearing seatbelts – creating a pressure environment for the driver to be distracted and take risks.
To the huge disappointment of the Forget Me Not families, this government has avoided taking the initiative, even though they have been presented with clear evidence and the bill had so much back-bench support from MPs, who all arrived at the debate with stories from parents who had lost teenaged sons or daughters in serious car crashes.
