Proposals to overhaul UK driver testing, training

New proposals to reform the way people learn to drive and how they are tested in the UK have been announced by Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly.

Road deaths and serious injuries in the UK have fallen by 33 per cent since the mid-1990s, but the casualty rate for young drivers has not changed. One in five people have an accident within six months of passing their test, and another 70 per cent report near- misses in the same period.

Alongside this, newly-qualified drivers and their passengers account for one in five of all car deaths in Britain.

A foundation course in safe road use for under-17s will be piloted in schools and colleges in Scotland from this autumn. This will lead to a qualification that will be available across Great Britain.

For the first time there will be a syllabus to ensure more effective and comprehensive training is offered to learner drivers. This will set out more clearly the necessary steps to driving safely - beginning with the basics of car control, progressing to skills such as driving in difficult weather or at night and culminating in ensuring driver awareness is enhanced, to help novice drivers predict the intentions of other road users. This will help more learners to pass first time as safe, responsible drivers.

Alongside this the driving test will be revised to place less emphasis on mechanical manoeuvres and allow examiners to properly assess the full range of a candidate's abilities. An assessment of their ability to drive independently and test to judge awareness of road safety issues will be introduced.