Six out of ten motorists polled agree that raising the driving age to 18 will prevent road accidents.
The results were revealed in a new survey of 1,000 motorists by road safety company SmartWitness, manufacturer of car dash-cams. It has been argued that this proposed change will tackle the number of accidents on British roads as a fifth of road deaths in the UK involve drivers from the 17 to 24 age bracket. Most countries in Europe have a minimum driving age of 18 but the limit has been 17 in the UK since the driving test was introduced 80 years ago in 1935.
Department for Transport statistics show that nearly one in eight (11.9 per cent) of all road casualties are hurt or killed in collisions involving a car driver aged 17 to 19 - despite the fact that this age group makes up only 1.5 per cent of licensed drivers. Road accidents remain the biggest killer of young people in the UK, higher than both alcohol and drugs.
SmartWitness chief executive Paul Singh said: "It is sad fact that young motorists drive around 5 per cent of all the miles driven in Britain but are involved in about 20 per cent of the crashes where someone is killed or seriously injured."
The survey found that 67 per cent of motorists support the introduction of tougher rules for drivers aged 17 to 19. One proposed change is the introduction of 12-month probationary licenses for all teenagers who have passed their test, with 76 per cent backing the plan. A further 62 per cent of people believe that young drivers should also display a green P - probationary - plate in order to warn other road users. A less popular proposal was the implication of night-time curfews for teenagers, with only 34 per cent supporting new measures that prevented young motorists from driving between 10pm and 5am unless a passenger aged over 30 were present.
Additionally around 20 per cent of SmartWitness sales to private drivers are cameras for parents who want to monitor their teenage children's driving when they are not in the car.
"At SmartWitness we are committed to improving safety for young drivers and helping to give parents' peace of mind when their teenage children are behind the wheel. They can check on the footage when their children have been out in the car on their own to make sure they are driving responsibly. It is clear there is overwhelming support for tougher laws governing young drivers. SmartWitness are committed to improving safety for young drivers and helping to give parents' peace of mind when their teenage children are behind the wheel" concluded Singh.