Say yes to cheaper van, home and car insurance

Learner drivers may be forced to take lessons for a minimum of 12 months if a road safety coalition gets its way.

A group of insurers and motoring and safety organisations have proposed the year-long training as a way of helping to reduce the number of accidents on our roads.

It also suggests that young drivers should be limited to only carrying a small number of passengers in the first few months after they pass their test and should be encouraged not to drive at night.

The proposals were announced at the first national Motor Conference which has been organised by the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

"Every day, four people are killed or seriously injured in crashes involving young drivers. The trend is getting worse not better," said ABI director general Stephen Haddrill.

"We urge the government to adopt these proposals to improve safety on our roads and reduce this tragic loss of life."

However, the proposals have been met with opposition, as the Safe Speed road safety campaign says that making drivers take lessons for longer misses the point.

"Everyone agrees that better drivers would make our roads safer. But new driver crash risks are more associated with lack of experience rather than lack of training," said Paul Smith, founder of Safe Speed.

"Simply upping the training cannot even begin to make up for the lack of experience."

Figures suggest that young drivers are more likely to be involved in an accident which is why many youngsters pay higher car insurance premiums.

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