April 26, 2013

DRIVERS UNDER 25 DON’T UNDERSTAND DANGER ANALYSIS

A woman who crashed her car ten years ago, just six months after passing her driving test is calling for changes to be made to the driving test after she was left paralysed.

Sophie Morgan is part of a documentary called ‘Licence to Kill’ which she feels really sums up the power given to people when they pass their test.

She tells her story, saying she was driving too fast and lost control of the car, flipping the car and incurring many injuries including breaking her spine.

Statistics show that 1 in 5 young people will have a crash within the first six months of passing their test and Sophie feels that the whole process of learning fails to include valuable experiences such as motorway lessons, night time driving, being in a car with friends and music playing etc.

Although Sophie welcomes some of the new proposals which will restrict learner drivers and newly qualified drivers, she also feels young people need to be educated.

Sophie said: “Interestingly the part of our brain that processes danger analysis isn’t properly developed until we are about 25….the test needs to take into account the young person’s sense of invulnerability, focusing on attitude and behaviour as well as operational ability.”

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