‘Driving age may have to rise here’

By Joel de Woolfson

TEENAGERS might have to wait a couple of extra years before they can get behind the wheel of a car if the number of vehicles in island continues to rise. Deputy Barry Brehaut said that raising the driving age was something the States would have to look at in the future.

But he thinks that in the short term, younger drivers should be restricted in their choice of car to reduce accidents.

‘If we are going to become more affluent with more cars on the road, then we might have to look at raising the age to 18 or 19,’ he said.

‘It would be hugely unpopular and would be challenged, but I think in the interest of our carbon footprint, safety and supporting public transport, it is something the States will have to look at.’

The driving age in the UK will effectively rise to 18 in a major overhaul of how young people are prepared for the road.

Ministers are expected to announce that learners will still be granted provisional licences at 17, but they will need a year to pass a fresh, beefed-up test.

National road safety figures show that one in five new drivers aged between 17 and 19 crash within a year of passing their test.

‘What I would like to see happen is that at the age of 17 you can only drive a car that is 1,000cc,’ added Deputy Brehaut.

‘It would be a smaller car and it would have to be unmodified. Then, at the age of 19, they could perhaps have a more powerful vehicle.

‘One of the problems we have in Guernsey is inexperienced drivers, but there is also a problem with young people having powerful cars.’

He said this problem was highlighted recently with the prosecution of 22-year-old Karl Oke, who was caught speeding at 93mph in Sausmarez Road, St Martin’s.

‘In the early 1950s there were about 8,000 registered cars in Guernsey and now there are 43,000. For a population of 60,000, that’s an enormous amount,’ he said.

But Grammar School student Elka de Carteret, 16, said reaching the age of 17 was a huge deal for young people because of the independence being able to drive offered them.

‘Turning 18 is a big milestone in itself, but I think people really appreciate the freedom being able to drive gives you when you’re 17,’ she said.

‘I don’t think stopping young people from driving for an extra year would make any difference safety-wise. You are just as likely to crash at 18 as you are at 17.

‘I think if they tried to change it, there would be a lot of arguments from young people and it would not be fair.’