I'm against loading kids with silly levels of insurance. My first insurance quote was GBP2,500 third part only on a Ford Fiesta Popular [950cc] when I was 21... that was 20 years ago ! A graduate salary at the time was GBP10K. As somebody who generally obeys the law, I couldn't drive on the road. I was in the minority as my peers just drove without insurance. I'm actually in favour of making insurance cheaper for first time drivers... I mean cheaper than everyone else... i.e. subsidized.
Three things to do to reduce the trouble first time drivers get in to.
o Reform the driving education and testing process. It focuses too much on the highway code, is far too short and doesn't concentrate enough on situation preparation and judgement. In other words its not road-relevant. I would make it a mimimum one year long, with various assessments along the way - including skid pan, motorway driving [could be done on a circuit], crash simulation etc...
o When they have passed the education process, new drivers will be on probation for 2 years. They must drive with a fully qualified driver in the passenger seat and in the event they suffer an indiscretion of any type, they will need to go back through the education process again... from the start.
o New drivers will be limited to driving an automatic with a maxium capacity of 1.0L. They will be restricted to 30 mph on any road other than a motorway where they'll be restricted to 50 mph. All restrictions will be by vehicle governers. No modifications of any description allowed.
People who want to drive faster should be encouraged to take up motorsport - and this should be promoted through education process.
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