A MAJOR shake-up of the learner and licensing system that was expected to cut road crashes and insurance premiums for young drivers is in doubt after the new Government refused to confirm it had any plans to publish a long-awaited Green Paper on the issue.
Road safety campaigners said it was "severely disappointing".
The proposed overhaul, first mooted in March 2013, was expected to include measures such as a minimum learning period, motorway lessons, a tougher practical test, and a Graduated Driver's Licence (GDL) that could impose restrictions on novice drivers such as a night curfew or a lower drink drive limit.
However, publication of the 'Green Paper on Young Drivers' was "indefinitely postponed" by the Coalition in December 2013 amid accusations that ministers did not want to tackle the issue until after the election.
At the time Robert Goodwill, Conservative MP and then under-Secretary of State for Transport, said they had to strike a "difficult balance" between making roads safer while not discriminating against young people, but would publish the paper in due course.
However, a spokeswoman at the Department for Transport refused to confirm that it still had any plans to issue the Green Paper, when asked by the Herald.
It comes days after the Scottish Government's Transport Minister, Derek Mackay, said he would support the rollout of a GDL pilot in Scotland, where some rural areas have the worst rates in the UK for fatal and serious collisions.
Around a quarter of all road crashes resulting in death or serious injury involve drivers under 24.
Neil Greig, the Scotland-based policy director at the Institute of Advanced Motorists, said: "Road accidents are the biggest killer of 17-24 year olds in the UK. Surely for any new government that must be a priory for action.
"A Green paper does not commit the government to anything but would air the issues and build consensus."
David Stewart, shadow transport minister and Labour MSP for the Highlands and Islands, has been campaigning for more than five years to introduce a GDL in Scotland. Graduated licences are the norm in many European nations, including Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.
Recent research at Cardiff University estimated that it would prevent the deaths of 22 teenage drivers a year in Scotland and save the economy £80 million.
Mr Stewart said: "I am severely disappointed that it appears that the Government has abandoned this Green Paper on Young Drivers which may not see the light of day now.
"Early indications from the previous Government suggested that the life saving Graduated Drivers Licence may have been featured in it, which could have saved numerous young drivers lives from across the UK."
He added: "I plan to redouble by efforts to see the Graduated Drivers Licence implemented by the UK Government, and I have already written to Patrick McLoughlin MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, asking for this scheme to be piloted in Scotland initially."
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has also been pushing for a Green Paper.
RoSPA chief executive Tom Mullarkey said: "Far too many young lives are being lost on our roads each year, so it is imperative that we take a more radical approach in order to reduce the number of casualties."
A spokeswoman for the DfT said: "Reducing the number of road casualties is a priority for this government. We would not rule out any measure that could help save young lives."
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