Crime Solicitors

Gateshead Council and Road Safety GB North East are urging younger drivers to be more careful, after statistics showed that young drivers were four times more likely to be involved in road accidents.

Road Safety GB North East Chairman Paul Watson and Gateshead Council’s Road Safety Officer Angela Burnett say the risk for young drivers increases when they have a car full of friends.

Gateshead has the fifth highest number of young driver casualties out of 12 northeast local authority areas – with the more rural counties of County Durham and Northumberland having the highest.

Road Safety GB North East is launching a Young Driver Campaign – and says the main causes of accidents for people aged between 17 and 24 are failing to look properly, risk taking, distraction, speeding, inexperience and driving under the influence of drink or drugs.

Gateshead Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, Councillor Malcolm Brain, said:

“Many young drivers are good drivers – however, figures show that if you are aged 17 to 24, you are four times more likely to be involved in a crash than other people.

“This may be due to their own actions – or simply inexperience at avoiding the dangerous actions of other drivers.”

Paul Watson of Road Safety GB North East added:

“We are urging young drivers to do everything they can to safeguard themselves and their passengers by being sensible and taking responsibility for each other.

“If the driver is acting irresponsibly, tell them to stop – if a passenger is distracting the driver, do something about it. Good mates do what’s right and look out for each other.

“If you focus solely on the road, you have a much better chance of avoiding a collision.

“Young drivers may not always be concerned about their own welfare, but could they live with the guilt if their behaviour led to the death of a friend? That’s the reality.”

Between 2011 and 2015, nearly one-third of road accident injuries in the region were collisions involving young drivers – and figures show that around 20% of all people injured were aged between 17 and 24, despite that age group accounting for just 7% of licence holders.

In the last five years, 38 young drivers were killed on the region’s roads, 440 were seriously injured and nearly 4,000 were slightly injured. However, a total of 64 young people have died in that time, including passengers and pedestrians.

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