Admiral reveals motorists’ call for stricter driving test regulations

Admiral commissioned YouGov to survey more than 3,000 drivers as part of its annual Survey of Motorists and found that many are in favour of tighter regulations. When asked what age people should be legally allowed to drive a car in the UK, the most popular answer was 18 with almost two fifths (38%) saying this. The current age limit of 17 was next (28%) followed by 21 (18%).

The car insurance specialist found that the majority of motorists (59%) thought retesting should take place when drivers reach the age of 70. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Survey showed this idea is least popular with motorists aged 60 and over (32%).

But it’s not just older motorists that should be retested according to more than one in four respondents (27%), who agree that people’s driving skills should be retested every 10 years. While 39% agree there should be stricter rules for people with provisional licences and those who have just passed their test, allowing them only to drive during daytime hours.

Sue Longthorn, Admiral managing director, said: "Our statistics show that young motorists have a worse driving record than older ones. They are more likely to have an accident and the accidents they do have are more serious and cost more. For example, an accident involving a 17 or 18 year old costs almost twice as much as an accident involving someone over 40. It’s an interesting debate whether increasing the driving age or increasing the amount of education available to young drivers would make the biggest positive impact.

“I’m sure motorists aged 70 and over would argue that there’s no need to retest them as they’re still good drivers - in fact, many might argue that they’re better than younger inexperienced drivers.”

Admiral also thought it would be interesting to see how confident motorists are in their own driving ability and asked respondents if they thought they would pass their driving test if they sat it today. Overall 69% said yes they would, but comparing genders men were more self-assured than women, with three quarters confident they would pass compared to 64% of women. Almost half (48%) of respondents Admiral surveyed said they passed their own driving test first time (55% of men and 41% of women), with 31% passing second time, 14% third time and 7% taking more than three attempts.

Sue added: “It’s good to see that lots of people think they would pass their driving test if they sat it today. However, it is slightly worrying that nearly a third think they wouldn’t. It’s probably down to the fact that with experience come bad habits which could harm your chances of passing a driving test.”

Notes to Editors:
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 3,164 adults with valid driving licences. Fieldwork was undertaken between 8th and 18th June 2012.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+). In some table percentages equal 99 or 101 due to rounding to the nearest whole percentage number.

About Admiral:
Admiral, (a trading name of EUI Ltd) launched in 1993, and is part of Admiral Group plc. It was set up to target those motorists who traditionally pay higher than average car insurance premiums, including those under-35, living in cities or driving hot hatches. It now offers its unique Admiral MultiCar policy for households with two or more cars.

Admiral writes its motor insurance business to a consortium of insurers, these being Admiral Insurance Company Ltd, Admiral Insurance (Gibraltar) Limited and Great Lakes Reinsurance (UK) plc.

The Admiral Group employs over 4,500 people in the UK and has more than 2.9 million customers in the UK.

-ENDS-

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