Andrea Leadsom – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrea Leadsom on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to announce the findings of the Green Paper on improving the safety and reducing risks to young drivers.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The safety of young people on our roads is very important to us. Too many young people die, too often; we are wrestling with how to make things safer, while not unduly restricting the freedom of our young people. We want young people to be able to get to work and training, to education and to leisure activities, and we want them to do so safely. We are finding this a difficult balance, with passionate voices on both sides.

On 27 January 2014, we held a meeting with the insurance industry and agreed the Department would commission new research into how telematics can change the behaviour and attitudes of learner drivers. We look forward to insurance companies sharing their data so that we can undertake this research.

We are also in the process of undertaking some focus groups with parents, young people and employers to get a better understanding of the issues from their perspective.