James Duddridge – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by James Duddridge on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with the insurance industry on the behaviour and attitudes of novice drivers.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The number of young people being killed on our roads is far too high and we are determined to tackle this issue. It is an issue which, understandably, features prominently in the range of representations which we receive about road safety generally.

As part of our consideration of the way forward, we met the insurance industry on 27 January 2014 to discuss novice drivers and, in particular, our proposed research into the role which telematics can play in changing the behaviours and attitudes of new drivers. My officials regularly talk to the insurance industry and current discussions are aimed at encouraging participation in the research project before we can get it underway. We will publish the results of the research when they are available.

We will also publish the findings of the focus groups comprising parents, young people and employers which we undertook in order to get a better understanding of the issues from their perspective.