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MP calls on new transport minister to back Wasted Lives
5:00pm Tuesday 7th October 2008
AN MP has called on the Government’s new transport minister to back the Lancashire Telegraph’s Wasted Lives campaign.
Pendle MP Gordon Prentice has written to Geoff Hoon urging him to support our proposals for a new graduated licence scheme as “a sure fire way of cutting road deaths”.
Mr Hoon has just taken up the post after Ruth Kelly quit, saying she wanted to spend more time with her family.
Speaking from Westminster, the MP said: “The campaign, spearheaded by the Lancashire Telegraph, is targeted at young men who, behind the wheel, can be a menace to themselves and others.
“I want the new transport minister to look at the issue afresh. All my colleagues in East Lancashire, without exception, are signed up to the Telegraph's campaign.”
The Government has so far ruled out a graduated licence and wants improved driver pre-test education and training instead. The Government's consultation on the proposed new drivers scheme ended earlier this week.
Bosses at the Driving Standards Agency, which is running the proposals, are adamant that a graduated licence will not be brought in, a stance backed by roads minister Jim Fitzpatrick, who has not changed his job in the cabinet re-shuffle.
Paul Butler, the director of research at the Driving Standards Agency, said the changes would see people in the future getting behind the wheel after passing their test more prepared than ever for the challenges of the road.
But Mr Prentice said: “In East Lancashire, between 2000 and 2006, there were 22 male fatalities and three female fatalities resulting from accidents involving a young male driver.
“We, the Telegraph and the people of east Lancashire want graduated licences in two parts. Part one could be granted at age 17, but with restrictions, so that a 17-year-old could not drive on a motorway without an instructor, would have to adhere to a 50 mph maximum on all other roads, and could only drive cars limited to 80 bhp—brake horsepower—which I am told is something like a Ford Focus.
“Furthermore, crucially, these young people could not drive with passengers aged between 10 and 25 until they passed part two, which would be taken a year later at age 18. We think that the effective age at which a full driving licence can be held should be 18.
“That might sound draconian, but tragedy has touched so many families in east Lancashire that we need such measures.”
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CALL: Gordon Prentice
In this section
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The Realist., Darwen says...
12:21am Wed 8 Oct 08
The simple way to reduce these accidents is to teach people how to drive properly and that doesn't mean how your taught to pass your test, but in fact how to control your car when it breaks traction. Then only will people be able to avoid crashes. I spent many years perfecting this on motorcycles which is the short sharp shock method as you only have one chance, as you don't have the safety net of a shell around you. If people were to spend two to four years riding motorcycles before they drove cars they would gain the necessary experience ten fold.
Another method would be to make rally school training compulsory before taking a driving test.
Either of these two ways of gaining the vital experience that one needs when faced with taking evasive action in order to get your car back on its line and avoiding coming off the road would have a lot more impact on reducing crashes than how driver's are being poorly educated at the moment.
After all it doesn't matter if your doing 10mph or 110mph when you slide or go off line, if you don't know what your doing when it happens how can you sort it out, you can't.
A classic example is of a Policeman who was banned for two years yesterday.