Richard Lochhead says Douglas Ross' young driver proposals "ill thought out"

Richard Lochhead, SNP MSP for Moray, has labelled Douglas Ross' graduated licence scheme backing "ill thought out" and says there are "clear issues" with the plan.

Mr Ross, Moray's Conservative MP, yesterday gave his backing to the scheme – which has been piloted in Northern Ireland and could see restrictions such as passenger limits and curfews placed on drivers under the age of 25.

Mr Ross highlighted the amount of crashes teenagers are involved in in the Highlands and Moray and said the measures would save "at least £4 million in costs to society in these areas alone".

Mr Lochhead responded to those comments this morning. He said: "Any proposal to restrict drivers will have unintended consequences and I’m not convinced that blanket restrictions are the answer.

"I’d be interested to hear the views of the police as to what extent they believe Douglas Ross’ proposals would reduce accidents. However, from the public feedback there are already some clear issues that would arise from what he’s suggesting – for example, a young single parent wouldn’t be able to drive their child to school unless accompanied by another adult over the age of 25.

"I wholeheartedly support the efforts of police and other local organisations who work hard to promote safer driving and to reduce accident numbers, and we should look at what more can be done, but we shouldn’t persecute young drivers – there are people on our roads of all ages and experience who make mistakes and drive dangerously.

"We should be working to ensure young drivers are safe on our roads and that they drive responsibly. However, these measures seem ill thought out and could have unwanted consequences."

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