Ban new drivers from giving lifts to friends, says AA

New drivers should be banned from giving lifts to their friends, the president of the AA has said after a young driver was jailed for killing two of her passengers.

Edmund King, boss of the motoring organisation, said restrictions on young drivers were needed to help prevent more “needless deaths” on the roads.

He called for the Government to introduce “graduated” driving licences, where tight restrictions are placed on newly-qualified drivers.

The proposal would see new motorists prevented from carrying passengers of a similar age for six months after passing their driving test.

The AA says around 5,000 people every year are killed and seriously injured in crashes involving at least one young motorist.

Mr King said: “One of the major issues that needs to be addressed is the needless deaths of young drivers, their passengers and others caught up in these crashes.

“Most people don’t realise, until it is too late, that road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death for children and young adults.

“We owe it to the next generation to introduce positive measures that will help give them healthy and prosperous lives.”

Twerking in the back seat

Earlier this month a 23-year-old motorist was jailed for 11 years after killing two passengers who had been “twerking” in the back seat of her car.

Adele Okojie-Aidonojie had been drinking and was driving at more than twice the speed limit when her Mini Cooper convertible overturned in Battersea, south London, last year.

Her passengers, Rida Boutjettif, 24, and Mary Macharia, 23, both died after being flung from the car.

Ms Okojie-Aidonojie, of Bromley, south London, was found guilty of two charges of causing death by dangerous driving and one of causing injury by dangerous driving.

Graduated driving licences have been considered but rejected by the Government in recent years.

In May 2023 Richard Holden MP, then a Department for Transport minister, met campaigners calling for tougher new rules on licences for young drivers.

Ministers had previously considered similar plans but shelved them in 2020 over fears they could harm young people’s employment prospects.

Graduated driving licences are used in several countries including the US, Canada, Australia and Sweden.

Seb Goldin, chief executive of Red Driving School, backed the AA’s call for changes to driving licences.

“We understand many of our students take lessons to gain the freedom of travelling whenever and wherever they want, and graduated driving licencing does restrict this,” he said.

“However, with so many tragic stories hitting the headlines of late, particularly of young people losing their lives on the roads, we need to rethink the country’s approach to road safety.”