New Brake research reveals widespread support for a stronger licensing system

A new report from road safety charity Brake has revealed both the scale of concern around young driver safety and the strength of public support for tougher measures to reduce risk on Britain’s roads.

Published on 15 April 2026, Brake’s Young Driver Safety report is based on a survey of 3,000 UK adults and found that 35% of people have either been in a crash involving a young driver or know someone who has. Among 18 to 24-year-olds, that figure rises sharply to 54%, underlining just how widely the issue is felt.

The report lands at a time when the Government is consulting on a range of road safety measures, including proposals linked to young and novice drivers. Brake says the findings should serve as a clear signal to ministers that the public expects stronger action to prevent death and serious injury.

Young drivers remain one of the highest-risk groups on the road. According to the report, 20% of collisions on Britain’s roads in 2024 that resulted in death or serious injury involved a vehicle driven by someone aged 17 to 24. That equates to 4,740 people killed or seriously injured each year in crashes involving young drivers. Importantly, the consequences extend far beyond the young motorists themselves, with around half of those killed or seriously injured in these collisions being other road users, including pedestrians, cyclists, passengers and other drivers.

Brake’s research also suggests this is not an issue people see as distant or abstract. Nearly six in ten respondents, 59%, said they worry that they or someone they love could be involved in a crash with a young driver. That sense of public concern is matched by clear backing for reform. More than three-quarters of those surveyed, 77%, said they support a stronger driver licensing system in Britain to reduce deaths and injuries from crashes involving young drivers, while 72% said strengthening the licensing system is essential to save lives.

The charity’s report focuses on measures often associated with graduated driver licensing, sometimes referred to as GDL. These can include a minimum learning period before a practical test, staged driving privileges for newly qualified drivers, and targeted restrictions during the highest-risk period immediately after passing. Brake argues that such an approach is designed not to punish young people, but to equip them more effectively for independent driving and reduce the likelihood of devastating early collisions.

There was also broad support for individual measures that would strengthen the current system. Seven in ten respondents said there should be a minimum learning period, for example six months, before a learner can take their practical test. Almost three-quarters said newly qualified drivers should have to wait before being allowed to carry peer-age passengers, and a similar proportion supported delaying unsupervised late-night driving during the first months after passing. The strongest backing came for a zero-tolerance approach to drink-driving among new drivers, with 88% agreeing that they should not be allowed to drink any alcohol when driving for the first six months after passing their test.

Ross Moorlock, Brake’s CEO, said: “Every year at Brake, we support more than 2,000 people who have been bereaved or injured in road crashes through our National Road Victim Service. So, we see first-hand the trauma and devastation that unfolds. The fact that so many crashes involve young drivers, who are just starting a new, exciting chapter of their lives as adults, adds to the heartache.

“We have campaigned for many years for a stronger driver licensing system, with provisions aimed at equipping young and newly qualified drivers with the skills and knowledge they need to safely take to the roads and gain their independence.

“We often hear that death and injury on our roads is inevitable, and that any legislative changes to driver licensing unfairly penalise young people and restrict their freedom. It is essential that we shift our perspective. We know that collisions are preventable, and stronger licensing empowers young people to be safe and responsible drivers and protects everyone who uses our roads.

“Our report really highlights that public opinion is on our side. It’s time for the Government to listen, step up and take firm action to tackle the unacceptable level of death and injury on our roads. It’s time for change.”

The report also draws on the voices of families directly affected by these tragedies. Phoebe Johnson was 17 when she died in October 2021 from injuries sustained in a late-night crash. The 19-year-old driver of the vehicle she was travelling in had passed her test just eight weeks earlier and was driving at night on a rural road while carrying peer passengers. Phoebe’s mother, Nicky Johnson, is backing Brake’s campaign for stronger licensing and believes the law must change to prevent other families experiencing the same loss.

She said: “If any parts of graduated driver licensing had been law, I believe they wouldn’t have taken that journey, and Phoebe would still be here.”

Expert opinion included in the report also reinforces the case for reform. Shaun Helman, chief scientist, behavioural sciences at TRL, said: “Brake’s work is timely, and important within the wider context of the 2026 Road Safety Strategy. It demonstrates broad public support for measures like the minimum learning period currently under consultation, and even measures that go beyond this, to reform licensing and protect young lives.”

Dr Ian Greenwood, who has campaigned on the issue since his 12-year-old daughter Alice was killed in a crash, said: “Brake’s research builds on existing evidence that the public largely supports reform to the driver licensing system for young and novice drivers.

“The risks associated with inexperienced young drivers have been known for almost a century. The devastating consequences of crashes involving young drivers is seen almost every week in the news, and evidence in favour of a stronger licensing system has been available since graduated driver licensing was first introduced in New Zealand in 1987. I strongly support Brake’s call on Government to act to prevent death and injury on Britain’s roads.”

Dr Neale Kinnear, chartered psychologist and behavioural scientist at Affective Mobility Ltd, added: “The evidence is unambiguous: new drivers are at their most vulnerable in the months immediately after passing the practical test, and the consequences extend well beyond the young driver themselves.

“A structured licensing framework does not limit young drivers, it equips them. It gives young people, parents, instructors and insurers a clear framework for managing risk and supporting the development of safer drivers. The evidence and the public are aligned and the opportunity to act has never been clearer.”

For driver trainers, the report adds further weight to the current debate around how learners are prepared not just to pass the test, but to drive safely once supervision ends. With the Government’s consultation on a minimum learning period open until 11.59pm on Monday 11 May, Brake is urging the public, parents, road safety professionals and wider stakeholders to respond and press for meaningful change. The full Young Driver Safety report can be read on the Brake website.