Boosting road safety is crucial, and the decision has been well received by industry and safety campaigners. Eye tests for drivers over a certain age are sensible but introducing new rules at the same time as stricter drink-drive limits gives the dangerous impression that pensioners are the biggest cause of accidents when they are not.

Data conclusively shows that drivers between the age of 17 and 24 are the most dangerous. Not only are younger drivers less experienced and more at risk of accidents, they are also more likely to want to put their foot to the floor and show off to their friends. How many stories do you read on Doris, 83, rolling her Subaru while doing 110mph down a B-road?

Yet seemingly every week a new tragedy emerges where a young driver has been showing off or simply showing no regard for their safety or anyone else’s.

This month, two brothers appeared in court having hit speeds of up to 90mph racing around the millionaires’ playground of Sandbanks in Dorset in a Mercedes A200 and BMW 135i.

When Harrison Taylor, 19, and his brother, Henry, 21, inevitably crashed it left a 17-year-old passenger with devastating injuries. The cars had been purchased by their parents to help the brothers get over the fact they’d broken up.

Buying such powerful cars for such young drivers suggests you’ve got more money than sense.

This followed 21-year-old Jorja Colville killing three passengers in July 2024 after losing control of her Ford Focus while travelling at over 90mph. Meanwhile, footage of a car clocking 122mph is being studied by police who are investigating a head-on crash in Bolton last weekend which claimed the lives of four people including three teenagers.

Families have clearly had enough with campaigners from Forget Me Not Families calling for younger drivers to face strict new rules under a Graduated Driving Licence system. They have called for a ban on 17- to 19-year-old drivers carrying passengers, as well as a six-month night-time driving curfew and a minimum learning period.

According to Government data, in 2024, one-fifth of casualties killed or seriously injured were from cars where a young driver was behind the wheel. The statistics also show that young males between 17 and 24 are four times as likely to be killed or seriously injured compared to those over 25.

Data from Cardiff University shows that around one in five newly qualified drivers crash within six months of getting their licence.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is already looking at possible changes, consulting on a minimum time period between passing a theory test and sitting a practical exam.

New rules could also ensure no one under the age of 20 can carry passengers aged 25 or under for six months after passing their test. A pre-consultation study on the idea found that initial reactions to the concept were “were negative”, meaning new rules will likely be a hard sell.

However, Juliet Seccombe, whose 16-year-old daughter Matilda “Tilly” Seccombe was killed by inexperienced driver Edward Spencer just six weeks after passing his test, described the reality perfectly.

She said: “It’s no good just accepting there’s a problem – do something about it. Doing nothing is going to cause some other family the pain and anguish we are going through.”

At the bare minimum, Labour needs to introduce a minimum learning period now. But why not go further? For a start, let’s raise the minimum driving age from 17 to 18 and then ban passengers, except for a parent or guardian, from sitting in cars until a licence holder is 21.

Action needs to be taken now, and a focus on older drivers is taking time and attention away from the most serious problem of all.