SPECIAL REPORT
Reducing the UK’s legal driving age may help younger drivers discover classics, but most believe that the negatives would outweigh the positives
A petition calling for the minimum driving age to be lowered to 15 has garnered 93,685 signatures – but classic experts are overwhelmingly against the idea.
At 100,000 signatures the petition would have been considered for debate in Parliament but every single one of the classic car club representatives we spoke to believe that lowering the minimum driving age would be a bad idea.
In its response, the UK government said: ‘We have no current plans to lower the legal driving age. This is because young drivers remain as one of the highest fatality groups.
The government is committed to improving the safety of all road users, especially young drivers who are at a greater risk of being involved in a collision. Decisions on the minimum driving age requirements have been taken and maintained, based on years of detailed evidence.’
Clubs and industry experts have looked at ways to encourage younger enthusiasts to get more involved with older cars – with the average age of a classic owner at 62, an increase on where it was five years ago – but none believes that lowering the minimum driving age could help to do this.
Tania Brown, secretary of the Vintage Sports-Car Club told us: ‘It’s
a tricky issue. We already have young drivers who have a competition licence of some form but not an RTA [Road Traffic Act] licence. In fact, trials and driving tests can provide invaluable experience for young people before they take to the road.
‘There are a number of positives for younger drivers: increased independence, especially in rural areas; and it may make it easier for some to access education and training opportunities or part-time work.
‘There is already pressure on the driving test system; and more people coming through who may require a longer period of training will congest this even more. We also know that, statistically, younger drivers have more accidents so we could expect that this will be mirrored in 15-and 16-year-olds.
I have absolutely no doubt that some younger people have sufficient maturity and responsibility to make excellent drivers, but emotional and cognitive development varies among individuals, and many may not be ready to handle the responsibilities of driving at a younger age’.
Dominic Taylor-Lane of the Association of Heritage Engineers agrees: ‘I don't personally see what advantage this would offer. Because current transport policy aims to reduce the number of journeys by car based on environmental and safety concerns, I think it’s unlikely to be successful.
