30th December 2011

Research has shown that nearly two–thirds of young male drivers reckon they can outperform the average person behind the wheel.

The numbers were revealed in the latest report from the IAM looking at the way in which young people drive – a study which shows how important car insurance cover is for newly qualified motorists.

However, the study also revealed a gender gap on the matter of young driver confidence, with just a third of females also claiming to be better than the average person on British roads.

The research revealed that teenagers and young men were the most likely group to be involved in an accident, in fact, males aged from 17 to 29 saw their chance of dying or suffering serious injury rise more than two–fold on their female counterparts.

Gender aside, the figures showed that when it came to people dying on our roads, nearly a third were aged 17 to 24 or being driven around in a car by someone in the age group.

Some 75% of young drivers said that cheaper car insurance premiums would be enough to make them take further training after passing their test.

IAM chief executive Simon Best said: ’Young male drivers suffer from a lethal combination of overconfidence and inexperience. They don’t need curfews and other restrictions on their driving; they need to practice and gain driving experience safely.

There are many paying thousands of pounds a year in insurance and killing themselves. The solution to this problem is to link driver training and insurance discounts.’

But what about drink driving? Well, another survey showed that people getting behind the wheel after a drink are often only travelling a short distance home.

AA and Populus surveyed more than 18,000 people and found that many had justified drink driving by saying that they weren’t driving far.

Another common excuse saw people draw upon the myth that food will soak up alcohol and make it okay to get behind the wheel.

The poll also found that people had said they were prepared to risk driving as the roads were quiet, as well as getting behind the wheel ’cause time had passed since their last drink.

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