The UK government is facing accusations of being “disingenuous” and “irresponsible” amid growing criticism for not introducing tougher licensing laws for new drivers.
Officials in countries that already use so-called Graduated Driving Licences (GDLs), major UK motoring organisations and bereaved families say reforming the way new motorists get a licence will save lives.
Sky News joined Canada’s largest road policing unit and driving school to understand how GDLs work – with evidence showing that deaths among 16 to 19-year-old drivers there have fallen by 83%.
Despite strong evidence, the UK government says it is not considering introducing them – claiming they “unfairly” penalise young drivers.
“It’s so disingenuous. You’re downplaying what an important function and responsibility it is to be behind the wheel of a car,” says Superintendent Matt Moyer, who heads up Toronto Police Traffic Services.
The province of Ontario was the first region of North America to introduce GDLs more than 30 years ago.
It takes at least 20 months to gain a full driving licence, with students earning certain freedoms in stages.
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Rules include new drivers not being allowed on the road between midnight and 5am, a ban on driving on high-speed roads and a limit on the number of under 19-year-old passengers.
Many of these factors have featured in fatal accidents in the UK.
As soon as GDLs were brought in 1994, there was an immediate 31% drop in collisions involving novice drivers.
Maria Bagdonas is chief operating officer of Young Drivers of Canada, the country’s largest driving school.
“It could be passenger restriction, it could be a time of day restriction, it could be a blood alcohol or drug concentration restriction – basically the idea is not to take someone who is newly licensed and say here, ‘go forth’ in this crazy mad driving world and just let them – do or die, because more often it’s the die,” she said.
She questions the UK government’s decision to not introduce GDLs.
“Is it irresponsible to allow the same thing to happen over and over again and expect a different result without any interference…or is it insane?”
We joined new learner drivers in Toronto as they get behind the wheel for the first time.
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One of them is 23-year-old Bapreet Kaur.
She gasped when we told her that in the UK, learners can do an intensive course for just one week before taking your test.
“Not everything is about freedom, you have to consider others as well. It’s not just you driving, right? There are other people on the road you have to make feel safe.”
Another learner, 16-year-old Anthony Martella, admits it is frustrating how long it takes.
“It makes me feel safe because when you’re on the road you want that mutual respect with other people on the road as well…having that aspect of making it longer so people can drive and learn the ways of the road, it makes it better for everyone,” he added.
“It is a bit frustrating, but I completely understand why the rules are in place.”
Graduated Driving Licences are also in place in other countries, such as Australia and New Zealand.
In 2023 around a fifth of people killed or seriously injured in Great Britain in car collisions involved a young driver – and the UK government says young male drivers are four times more likely to be killed or injured compared with other motorists.
The AA, RAC, road safety charities Brake and RoadPeace, MPs and some police have spoken in favour of GDLs.
The campaign group Forget-Me-Not Families Uniting, made up of those who’ve lost loved ones in car crashes, has lobbied the government to bring in the tougher laws – and last week delivered a 100,000-strong petition to Downing Street.
‘People keep dying’
Mia Pullen, whose brother Elliot was killed when a car he was travelling in smashed into a tree at 100mph in 2023 in Oxfordshire, told Sky News he would still be alive if GDLs had been in place.
“It makes me feel really angry, and really quite disappointed and let down by our government because he would still be here and so would hundreds of other people’s sons and daughters,” Ms Pullen said.
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She said the number of accidents mean something needs to be done.
“I think they’re making a very irresponsible decision. How can you not think they’re the most important thing right now in the road safety laws.
“People keep dying. You keep seeing it on the news, ‘young person has been killed’ or another young person has killed someone else because they’re not experienced enough to drive.”
Back in Toronto, Supt. Moyer said there are challenges in enforcing the tough GDL rules.
“You need an in. We can’t just arbitrarily stop people because ‘we think’ or ‘we have suspicion of’. We have to believe an offence has been created.
“We have to be realistic – and manage the expectations of the community. I don’t have enough people to pull over everybody that looks like their young at 3 o’clock in the morning – I don’t have that,” he said.
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But he is clear the system works.
“Come out to some of our fatals and find out why there’s 3,000 pounds of steel wrapped around this person and yet there was never any standard applied to them.
“I understand there are some people who feel it might be an infringement on their rights to actually introduce laws.
“These aren’t laws, they are standards – and the more people who will accept that and abide by that, you’ve just made a major contribution to public safety in Britain.”
Ontario’s minister of transport, Prabmeet Sakaria, agrees that GDLs are the safest way to learn.
“We have some of the largest highways in probably North America and so we have to be very careful putting people onto the roads.
“The data speaks for itself here, right. We’ve got 16-18 lane freeways here. Should someone who’s just picked up their licence, really be able to jump on some of the busiest, fastest roads, should they be able to do so not having the experience?”
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A Department for Transport spokesperson told Sky News: “Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way.
“Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driving Licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers.”
