A Freedom of Information (FOI) request from Select Car Leasing has lifted the lid on the WORST learner drivers in the UK - with thousands of provisional licence holders already carrying penalty points before they've passed their test. 

Our exclusive research, which examines DVLA data, reveals there are 77,406 learner drivers in the UK who have amassed a shocking 419,449 points on provisional licences between them. 

That stats reveal how one 20-year-old who identifies as male has racked-up a whopping THIRTY points already on his provisional, making him the youngest driver in the UK to record such a tally.

He’s not the worst offender overall, however, with another 43-year-old male having a staggering 63 points on his provisional licence.

How is that even possible? Read on to find out. 

^{(Pic above credit: GEM Motoring Assist)}

Licences and the law

A provisional driving licence gives you the permission to drive on UK roads while under the supervision of your driving instructor or another driver over the age of 21 who has held a full driving licence for a minimum of three years.

You can apply for a provisional driving licence when you’re 15 years and 9 months old and you can start driving a car on one when you’re 17.

And you can also receive penalty points on your provisional licence BEFORE you pass your test - for all the usual road offences, such as speeding, careless driving, or using a mobile phone while at the wheel.

It can take three years for penalty points to expire from a provisional licence, however, any penalty points on your provisional that have not expired will be carried over to your full licence when you pass your test.

And then if you receive any MORE penalty points - that takes you up to a total of six or more - within two years of passing your practical test, you’ll have your licence taken away until you’ve passed both your theory and practical tests yet again.

In general, penalty points, or endorsements must stay on your driving record for 4 or 11 years, depending on the offence.

You can be disqualified from driving if you build up 12 or more penalty points within a period of 3 years, and the ban can last between 6 months and 2 years, depending whether or not you get a subsequent second, or third disqualification.

There are also exemptions and discretions when it comes to people losing their licences, and a court can show leniency if someone can prove 'exceptional hardship' if they have their licence taken away.

So it’s for all of the reasons above why some motorists can amass huge numbers of points on their licences while still being able to take to the road. 

Law Breaking Learner Drivers by Gender

According to our FOI stats, drivers who identify as male are far more likely to receive points on a provisional licence than those who identify as female, with a total of 81% of provisional licences with points belonging to male motorists.

The 20-29 year age bracket showed the starkest contrast between what were categorised as male and female offenders - with males being SIX times more likely to get points on their provisional licence at this age. The gender split showed 25,488 male licences with points, compared with 4,202 females. 

The second age group with the biggest difference in gender is 30-39 year olds, with those who identify as male being FOUR times more likely to have points on a provisional licence than those who were referred to us as 'female'. 

Law Breaking Learner Drivers by Age

The age group with the highest number of points on provisional licences are 20-29 year olds, with a total of 29,690 provisional licences burdened with points. Together, those offending learner drivers had amassed a total of 179,000 points between them! 

The second worst-offending age group are 30-39 year olds, with 22,065 provisional licences with points and over 119,000 points in total between them. 

We also compared the number of provisional licences with points to the number of provisional licences in each age group. 

Interestingly, we found that those aged 90 years old and above are actually statistically more likely to have points on their provisional licences than other age groups, with 2.68% of pension-age provisional licence holders having been stung.

The age group with the lowest percentage of provisional licences with points are 60-69 year olds with 0.26% of provisional licence holders having points.

Law breaking Learner Drivers by Location

It's clear to see that the most populated areas of the UK tend to have a highest number of provisional licences with points, with Central London having a total of 12,056 endorsed learner licences, which is far more than any other area. 

London is followed by Birmingham with 2,958 and Nottingham with 1,839 provisional licences with points.

To get a better idea of how the number of provisional licences with points is represented we calculated the number of provisional licences with points per 100,000 people/population.

The area with the largest proportion of provisional licences with points is actually Ilford, east London, with 915 provisional licences with points - or 256 per 100,000 population. Of our top ten areas, seven are within Greater London - a stat which could in part be attributed to the capital's tough speed limits. 

In second place is Southall, west London, with 929 provisional licences with points - or 235 per 100,000 population. Rounding off the top three areas with the most dangerous learner drivers is Central London with 12,056 licences with points - or 233 per 100,000.

Nine of our top ten areas are in England, with the exception of Perth, Scotland having 94 provisional licences with points - or 199 per 100,000 population.

Conclusion

From our exclusive FOI data we can see that males aged 20-29 and who are located in the Greater London area represent what are potentially the most dangerous learner drivers in the UK, having amassed the most amount of points on provisional licences. 

The general trend with our data is that older learner drivers who are classified as 'female' are much less likely to have points on a provisional, with the 60-69 year old age category being statistically the safest.

Methodology

We sent an FOI request to DVLA to find out the number of provisional licences with points across the UK. 

We asked for the data to be separated by age, gender and location. We used 2021 Census population data and calculated how many provisional licences with points were held per 100,000 population in each area.

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