Young Driver Liability

2 minute read  |  September 27, 2018

A study recently carried out by Nextbase found that nearly a third (29%) of all 18-25 year olds were either wrongly blamed or struggled to prove they weren’t the at fault party in an accident. The study also found that young drivers regularly admitted to being at fault at the scene of the accident even it was not actually them who had caused the accident.

Blame culture

Nextbase, unsurprisingly, claim that if the car has a dash cam it can help prove which driver was at fault instead of it just being a war of words, as well as significantly reducing the cost of insurance. Obviously this is another bonus for young drivers who often face higher insurance premiums and is a welcome alternative for those that don’t want the limitations of a black box.

Young drivers taking the blame for an accident that wasn’t their fault could be the result of numerous things; they may not be confident enough to insist they weren’t at fault at the time of the accident, maybe they are in shock or it could just be that they aren’t educated well enough on who would be at fault in that scenario.

Although it’s not possible to teach the level of confidence that is gained from years of driving experience, or how to prepare for the shock of being involved in an accident, it may be that more education is required, whether that’s provided by more experienced drivers or instructors as part of the learning process.

This new research backs up the large number of other studies that justify why insurance for young drivers is so high; apparently a staggering 23% of 18-24 year olds crash within the first two years of passing their test.

Cause and effect

A major cause of accidents, and something the police are really trying to crack down on, is mobile phone use behind the wheel which is still a significant problem, especially among young drivers. A Brake survey found that 19% of young drivers admitted to texting whilst driving at least once a month, this is compared with 11% of older road users.

Statistics have also shown that young drivers that crash are twice as likely to be under the influence of alcohol as older drivers, despite years of campaigning.

So after taking all that in, what do you think? Are young drivers unfairly treated when it comes to insurance? Or are the high costs justified? Let us know on any of our social media channels.

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