New ‘T’ plates introduced for young drivers to reduce pressure off the roads

11th September 2020

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In a recent survey, over 2 million 17-25-year-old drivers said that they feel pressured to drive faster by other motorists however a brand new sticker could help combat this problem and take the pressure off newly qualified drivers.

Screenshot 2020-09-11 at 13.02.24© Co-op Insurance 

Nervous drivers are being encouraged to place ‘T’ plates on to their car as part of a new campaign by Co-op Insurance to reduce peer pressure and crack down on car accidents throughout the UK.

It comes after a recent study conducted into driving behaviours where over half of 17-25-year-olds said they felt under pressure to speed up on the roads, most times going faster than the legal limit.

This study also found that 80% of all drivers surveyed had experienced another vehicle driving to close to them and almost three quarters found that they had been overtook by another driver when it wasn’t safe to do so.

This is another way Co-op insurance is raising awareness of the issues young drivers are experiencing on the road every day. In 2011, Co-op insurance introduced the use of telematics for young drivers by fitting a black box within the car to measure driving behaviours such as speed, driving safely and keeping in line with the law. This is a scheme which rewards or penalises them depending on how they drive and is something which continues to grow in popularity among drivers.

Backed by road safety charity, Brake and other various driving companies, this is a solution designed to help young drivers feel safer on the roads. The plate, shown in the image below, looks similar to an ‘L’ or ‘P’ plate and will be a T in a blue colour.

T plateMany people have commented on this new ‘T’ plate such as Aggie in Huddersfield,

“What a great idea! I’ve been driving for 25 years and other motorists can still make me feel anxious, pressured and unsafe. I hope the T-plate takes off! I’d get one for myself if I could ”

and Indu in Manchester,

“This is brilliant. thank you! Wish this existed when I passed my test a few years ago. Moving to a new country, new city having just passed the test I struggled to gain confidence and still do on new roads and motorways mostly due to the fellow motorists. This is a very good initiative.”

Hopefully, the new T plate will be a success and make the roads a lot safer. For young drivers who wish to take part in the trial, they can join by heading to Co-op Insurance’s website.