According to a study, the number of 17-year olds taking the driving test in the UK has dropped by 100,000 over the past decade.
The research was carried out by automotive consumer website Honest John, who also found that the overall number of under-25s in the UK that are learning to drive has dropped by 20%.
It appears that the main culprit for these plummeting figures is financial in nature, with figures showing that a city-based teenager driving a small hatchback worth £8,000 can be quoted up to £13,498 for a 12-month insurance policy, while those living in rural areas will be asked to pay £8,750.
Furthermore, average premiums have increased by 8% in the first quarter of 2017 as accelerating costs are driven by the Insurance Premium Tax (IPT), whose rate has doubled to 12% in the last few years.
Aside from the high insurance costs, the average learner driver is asked to pay £1,529 in order to get his or her license, while the Department for Transport claims that, on average, a student needs 47 hours of professional tuition as well.
“Put simply, young people are being priced out of learning to drive. Ten years ago, a typical 17 year old would have booked a driving lesson as soon as they were legally able, but today most young people simply cannot afford to drive,” said Honest John’s managing editor, Daniel Powell.
“Increases in IPT and changes to the way major personal injury claims are calculated have pushed up premiums by an average of eight per cent. But for younger drivers the real wold increases are probably much higher.”
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