Highlands & Islands MSP travels to London to meet Minister to discuss GDL

Highlands & Islands MSP, Labour Transport Spokesman and local road safety campaigner, David Stewart, is travelling to London on Wednesday 14 October 2015, to meet Andrew Jones, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport and Lilian Greenwood, MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, to discuss his proposed graduated licence scheme (GDL).

For the last five and a half years, David Stewart has pursued many road safety campaigns across the Highlands, Islands and Moray. The principal campaign being the ‘Sensible Driving – Always Arriving’ campaign, which proposes the introduction of a form of graduated licence.

Speaking this morning, David Stewart said “ 12.5%of all road collisions in Scotland involve a young person aged between 17 and 19 years. If a form of graduated licence was introduced we could save 45 lives and reduce casualties by 299 each year.”

“In the Highlands and Grampian areas 15.7% of all collisions involve a driver falling into the age bracket highlighted. If there was a graduated licence scheme introduced then we could reduce the casualties in this area by 64 and  prevent up to 13 fatalities.”

David Stewart continued “ I want our young people to be mobile, but I want them to be mobile safely and that is why I am engaging with young people across the Highlands & Islands and beyond. My proposals are really not going to be restrictive as some imagine. I am asking now for all new drivers to display a ‘P’ plate for the first six months after they pass their test. I am looking for as near zero an alcohol level as possible and a restriction on the number of other young persons that can be carried.”

“I am hoping that the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport will give me a fair hearing and our meeting will be positive.”

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