According to a report released by Vision Critical and the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), a road safety charity, a staggering 71 percent of all young drivers consider themselves better than the average driver, despite the fact that they’re statistically most likely to be involved in a severe crash.

The study, which looked at the attitudes of young drivers throughout the UK, found that young drivers in Northern Ireland were most confident, with 87 percent rating themselves as above average in spite of the fact that young people in NI are involved in 26 percent of accidents.

Young drivers in Wales were the least confident, with only 56 percent of those surveyed believing themselves to be better than average.

Simon Best, IAM chief executive, believes that to address the issue there must be changes to the way in which we learn to drive to.

“Our whole system of learning to drive must be overhauled to provide safe exposure to a wider range of traffic situations, but also the chance to discuss attitudes and risks. New drivers feel invulnerable and it is the job of government, training providers, insurers, charities and parents and carers to ensure they have the best training to reduce risk to themselves and others.”

Despite young people being most confident behind the wheels, official figures reveal that while only 8 percent of drivers are under the age of 25 they’re involved in 22 percent of all serious and fatal crashes.

UK Carline often comments on car related news. A spokesperson for the company agrees that more could be done to better help young people drive safely.

“As the IAM concluded, this is a situation that needs addressing and there is certainly more that the government could be doing to make necessary changes to policy, lessons and more to help the next generation of drivers to not only improve their driving but to better understand the risks out there and take more precautions when driving, rather than becoming overconfident and putting themselves and other drivers at risk.

“We also need to remember that there are also a lot of young drivers out there who are perfectly competent behind the wheel but who are tarred with the same brush as other young drivers and hit with high insurance rates, something that we know happens because we’ve seen it as one of the UK’s most popular car leasing companies.”

UK Carline is a car and van contract hire company in Preston, Lancashire. Visit www.ukcarline.com to learn more.

For quotes contact Martin at UK Carline on 01995 641111 or info@ukcarline.com