A greater emphasis has to be placed on young driver safety, it has been claimed.
Safety is a key issue for all motorists, but young people in particular are often judged by their behaviour at the wheel.
Being new to driving, young drivers are often either looked down upon as not being clued-up on the road or slapped with a boy racer tag.
While these stereotypes are unfair, there is a consensus that more needs to be done to promote safety among younger drivers.
With this in mind, a number of famous faces, including sports presenter Gary Lineker and former FIA president Max Mosley, have got together to make sure the spotlight is placed on this issue.
The scheme has been organised by ingenie and aims to highlight the requirement for more thoughtful and sensible proposals – which nod to private sector innovation – to be introduced.
To promote the initiative, an event was held that brought together a number of celebrities. In addition to Mosley and Lineker, motoring journalist Quentin Wilson and broadcaster Jon Sopel were on-hand to offer their thoughts on young driver safety.
Mosley explained it is important that safety for young motorists continues to be championed, while Lineker noted the matter is something he feels passionately about.
The Match of the Day presenter and former England striker said: "What I've come to appreciate through my involvement with ingenie is how much parents can help get young people ready for the road.
"It's got to be more than just financial support through the process of learning to drive – it's got to be a team effort."
The safety event resulted in proposals for three broad changes to be introduced to the current system. It was suggested that prior to taking their driving test, people should be well informed about road safety and have access to free brain training software such as Drive iQ.
Other ideas included learners having to undertake a mandatory number of lessons and to gain experience of driving at night and on the motorway, while there should also be no unenforceable curfews that restrict new drivers from hitting the road at certain times.
Posted by Peter Murray