230 underage drivers banned by DVLA, including four under 13

Information supplied to the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) shows 230 people under 17 and therefore under the legal driving age for the UK were disqualified from driving between July 2013 and June 2014 including four 12 year olds and four 13 year olds. One 12 year old girl is currently banned before her driving career even starts.

Things aren’t much better for drivers that are a few years older and therefore legally able to drive. According to the figures, male drivers between the ages of 20 and 30 were the most common group to be disqualified from driving in the 12 months between July 2013 and June 2014.

As of 21 June 2014, 92,136 people in total across the UK were disqualified from driving between July 2013 and June 2014. Of those about 62,000 are still disqualified.
The age with the greatest number of disqualified drivers is 25 – 3,748 are serving a driving ban, made up of 3,294 males and 454 females.

Some 31,668 males – just over one-third of the total number of people disqualified from driving during this period – were between the ages of 20 and 30. Males also outnumber females considerably when it comes to carrying out offences leading to a driving ban. In total 13,481 females were disqualified during this time period – less than 15 per cent of the overall total. And in the 20-30 age group just 4,333 females were disqualified in the 12 month period, compared to 31,668 males. While 36,001 people between 20 and 30 were disqualified in the last 12 months, 10,025 people in their fifties and just 3,874 in their sixties were.

Simon Best, chief executive of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: “These statistics strongly reflect the research we have already carried out in this area – that young males are very much the at risk group when it comes to driving safety. We believe targeting the attitudes of these drivers specifically, through advanced training for example, should be a major part of future road safety campaigning. Reducing offending in this age bracket would dramatically improve safety on our roads for all road users.

“It is also of great concern that youngsters not even eligible to hold a provisional licence are being banned at such young ages. Parents need to be aware their children are putting their own lives and those of others at huge risk by taking the wheel of a car on public roads.”

The figures were supplied by the DVLA following a Freedom of Information request made by the IAM.