News & Features

Dangerous Driving Rife Amongst Young Drivers

Posted in General News on Friday, September 20th, 2024

According to new figures gathered via a Freedom of Information (FOI) request sent to the DVLA and examined by IAM RoadSmart, a total of 1,585 drivers aged between 17 and 25 were issued with DD40 (dangerous driving) endorsements on their licences in 2021. This accounts for just over a quarter (27%) of all the DD40 endorsements issued that year. By 2023, this had increased to 1,928 new endorsements, meaning the proportion of new DD40s for this age group had risen to 36% of all issued. The analysis showed that up until June 2024, there were a total of 1,128 new endorsements, accounting for 38% of the total issued. 

Between 2021 and 2024, the youngest driver with a DD40 endorsement was13-years-old, considerably younger than the legal age of driving. The oldest was 94. The charity is calling for the introduction of Graduated Driving Licences to help with this issue. IAM RoadSmart’s Director of Policy and Standards, Nicholas Lyes said “Something is going awry with driving standards among younger drivers when they now account for well over a third of all new dangerous driving endorsements while at the same time making up a small proportion of overall licence holders.” 

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