Richard Burden – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2014-06-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential benefits of mandatory display of passed plates by all novice drivers for a minimum period.

Mr Robert Goodwill

None. There is no probationary period for new drivers and no requirement to display a ‘P’ plate. However, the Transport Research Laboratory Report on "Novice Drivers: Evidence review and Evaluation Pre-Driver Training, Graduated Driver Licensing" made a number of recommendations on novice driver safety. One recommendation was that on successful completion of the driving test a driver would be permitted to progress to a probationary licence from age 18. During the 12 month (minimum) probationary licence the driver would be required to display a green ‘P’ plate to identify their licence status and aid enforcement of other recommended restrictions.