The Association of British Insurers (ABI) called for new measures, including restrictions on night driving and a lower drink-drive limit, to tackle the crash risk faced by inexperienced drivers.

But it said young people should be able to start learning to drive earlier – at 16-and-a-half, rather than 17.

The ABI also called for "graduated licensing" for six months after passing the test, which would restrict the number of passengers new drivers could carry and ban drivers – with some exceptions – from the roads between 11pm and 4am.

The ABI said that only one-in-eight driving licence holders in the UK was 25 or under, yet one-third of those killed on the roads was under 25. ABI director general Otto Thoresen said: "Radical action is needed to reduce the tragic waste of young lives on our roads."