The number of teenage drivers killed in road accidents in England and Wales has increased in recent years despite fewer youngsters holding licences, new statistics have revealed.
Research by the AA Motoring Trust showed that young driver deaths stood at 113 in 2000, but had increased to 151 by 2004. In contrast, the number of 16 to 19-year-olds possessing driving licences in the same period dropped from 41% to 26%.
These revelations could go some way towards justifying why young driver car insurance often costs so much, with inexperienced teenagers proving a risky bet for motor insurance providers.
The latest accident rate figures have once again prompted passionate debate concerning the issue of youngsters on the road, with safety campaigners suggesting a number of measures to cut death and accident rates. Increasing the age at which a test can be taken has been suggested, as has limiting the engine capacity for young drivers.
Most controversial of all is the proposal that youngsters should be banned from the road during the night. The early hours of the morning traditionally see the highest number of teen road deaths, many contributed to by alcohol, and campaigners feel that putting a curfew on all young drivers would lower accident rates significantly.
But such suggestions are guaranteed to provoke the fury of youngsters, as Becky Packham, a hip and trendy student from Portsmouth, explained. "Banning all young drivers from the road just because of a few idiots is bang out of order," she said.
"Those irresponsible few give people like me - who drive sensibly and aren't a danger - a bad name."
A spokesman for Hoot Car Insurance Services, the young driver car insurance specialists, commented, "The high number of accidents among teenagers and those in their early twenties is a problem, but there must be a solution that can save lives and not impinge on the rights of those that do drive properly."