The future implementation of the points-based drivers’ licence will be the best way of reducing traffic accidents, according to 55% of Catalan driving school directors. Some others (25%) believe that, to reduce accident rates, longer and more detailed training is required, whilst others (10%) believe in the effectiveness of fines. These are some of the conclusions included in the study Training responsible young drivers, presented today by the abertis foundation and prepared by the Grupo de Investigación sobre Envejecimiento (GIE, the Ageing Research Group) of the University of Barcelona (UB), led by Dr. Ricardo Moragas. At the presentation ceremony were Dr. Ricardo Moragas, the Director of the Catalan Traffic Service, Rafael Olmos, and the Director of the abertis foundation, Ricard Maxenchs.

As part of this study, the researchers carried out surveys of Directors of Driving Schools in Catalonia and their students aged from 18 to 30, in addition to interviewing representatives of the country’s road safety institutions.

Of the young people interviewed, 32% held that the points-based drivers’ licence was the best way of reducing accidents, whilst 41% believed that a driving ban was more effective and another 13% felt that this was the case for fines. For their part, the experts interviewed believed that accident rates would fall by 15% with the implementation of the new licence. In their view, the measure will be most effective at the start of its implementation, but this will diminish over time.