CONFÉRENCE EUROPÉENNE DES MINISTRES DES TRANSPORTS
EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRANSPORTRESOLUTION No. 46
ON MEASURES TO REDUCE THE ACCIDENT RISKOF YOUNG DRIVERS[CM(85)18]

The Council of Ministers of Transport, meeting in Paris on 22nd November 1985,

HAVING REGARD to the attached report on “Measures to reduce the accident risk of youngdrivers”;

CONSIDERING:-- that the risk of accident is considerably greater for young drivers than for older drivers
and that young drivers are more likely to be involved in accidents using the vehicle withwhich they first participate in motorised road traffic;-- that the reasons for the particular accident-proneness of young drivers are mainly
inexperience, willingness to take risks and the learning situation of these road users;-- that because of their inexperience and often limited training young drivers are frequently
involved in specific types of accident in which they lose control of the vehicle in a
critical situation - going off the road, skidding, excessive speed and so forth;-- that their particular willingness to take risks stems from attitudes and behaviour patterns
specific to young people and which can have serious effects particularly in motorised
road traffic;-- that young drivers after obtaining their driving licence frequently gather experience inroad traffic that influences their learning situation in an undesirable direction, such as
witnessing violations of traffic regulations, such violation going unpunished, aggressive
driving, etc.;

RECOMMENDS that the governments of ECMT Member countries should:
1. implement measures to improve the unfavourable accident situation for young drivers;
2. set the minimum age for participation in motorised road traffic sufficiently high withregard to national conditions;
3. consider the desirability of allowing young drivers initially to ride motorcycles oflimited power only for a certain period unless the national legislation provides that thedriver’s ability is assured through other driving experience;
4. consider whether a probationary licence should be introduced for new drivers;

5. examine whether a driving licence should be introduced for mopeds;
6. encourage the improvement of driving school training and driving tests in such a waythat the content is more related to attitudes and behaviour patterns;
7. step up publicity campaigns for young drivers and road safety education in schools;
8. consider persuading vehicle manufacturers to use voluntary restraint in their advertisingin order to avoid the safety-reducing aspects (e.g. advertisements stressing maximumspeeds);
9. step up traffic policing for the problem areas “driving under the influence of alcohol”
and “inappropriate speed”, as these are among the most important causes of accidents
among young drivers;
10. work towards making technical modifications, in particular to increase the maximum
speed of mopeds impossible or at least considerably more difficult in countries wheresuch tampering with mopeds is a particular problem;
11. examine whether importers could voluntarily renounce importing motorcycles with apower exceeding 75 kW.

INSTRUCTS the Committee of Deputies to take all necessary steps to improve the accident situationof young drivers and to report back in due course, taking into account of experience in thevarious Member countries.

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