NOVICE drivers should be under curfew and banned from using high-powered cars as a measure to cut the soaring number of accidents involving boy racers, according to a government adviser.

Cathy Keeler, a member of the Scottish executive’s working group on road deaths, wants ministers to impose tough restrictions on all new drivers to curb the carnage on Scotland’s roads.

Keeler, campaigns director of the national road safety charity Brake, is calling for the introduction of a graduated licence system that would also ban drivers from carrying passengers under 24 for two years after passing a test.

Under the scheme, which she hopes will be adopted nationally, learner drivers would have to wait 12 months before sitting their test. They would then be classed as provisional drivers for a further two years.

During the provisional period, they would have to display a “P” plate on their vehicles and would not be permitted to drive between midnight and 6am, carry passengers under the age of 24, or drive vehicles with powerful engines.

After two years, they would have to sit a practical test to obtain a full licence.

Similar schemes have already cut the number of road deaths involving young people in Northern Ireland, America, Australia, New Zealand and Sweden and Keeler hopes the Scottish executive will lobby Westminster to change the law in Britain.

“One in eight drivers are under 25, but one in four drivers who die are in this age group, often taking their young friends with them,” said Keeler.

“Graduated licensing allows drivers to develop their skills and experience over a period of several years and means placing restrictions on novice drivers.”

Scotland has a horrific record of young people being killed in road accidents. About 80 people under the age of 25 die every year in road accidents in Scotland.

Car crashes are the biggest killer of 17- to 24-year-olds and newly qualified drivers are at greatest risk. Among 17- to 22-year-olds, 10 people per 1,000 are involved in a car accident, compared with just three per 1,000 among over-60s.

Last month two 20-year-olds, who had been friends since nursery, were killed in a crash near Aberdeen. Days earlier, an 18-year-old died in an accident near Banff and last year four teenagers were killed when their Ford Fiesta was involved in a head-on collision near Ladybank in Fife.

In New Zealand, where a graduated licensing scheme was introduced in 1987, the number of 15- to 19-year-olds injured in car crashes has fallen by 23% and by 12% among 20- to 24-year-olds. There, novice drivers are banned from carrying passengers or driving between 10pm and 5am unless accompanied by a fully licensed driver.

Similar restrictions apply in New South Wales, where novice drivers must be at least 20 before they can qualify for an unrestricted licence.

In Northern Ireland novice drivers must display amber “R” plates for a year after passing their driving test and must not exceed 45mph on any road.

Keeler’s call follows the decision by the insurance firm More Than to offer 18- to 25-year-old drivers discounts of up to 40% on their premiums if they stay off the road between 11pm and 6am.

Steve Stradling, professor of transport psychology at Edinburgh’s Napier University, welcomed the call for a graduated licensing system. “Young drivers are significantly over-represented in accident statistics and the main reasons are that they are not being able to control the vehicles and have the wrong attitude towards driving,” he said.

Isobel Brydie, chair of the Scottish Campaign Against Irresponsible Drivers, said she would also support restrictions on novice drivers.

However, Andrew Howard, head of road safety for the AA Motoring Trust, said he believed the scheme would be difficult to enforce.

“We agree with the thrust of these proposals but I don’t think there would be enough traffic police officers to enforce them,” he said.

“What we believe would be better would be to have a voluntary code for new drivers, who would agree not to drive between midnight and 6am and not to carry passengers of their own age.”

A spokesman for the Scottish executive said it was interested in Keeler’s proposal.

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