Five year olds are learning to drive

Putting five-year-old kids behind the wheel might produce better drivers, but will they be safer?

A new type of miniature electric car has been launched to teach five-year-old children to learn to drive. The tiny vehicles share many features with a full-grown car including: independent suspension, disc brakes, rack and pinion steering, indicators, headlights and an electronic speedo.

With a top speed of 10 mph, each car uses special sensors to detect obstacles and bring the car to a halt, avoiding collision. Instructors also have the use of a remote cut-off switch in case of emergency. The cars can be rented for 20 minutes for £20 via Young Driver.

The scheme is sponsored by a car insurer and with 20 per cent of newly qualified drivers crashing within six months of passing their test, it’s easy to see why. What is harder to understand, is how off-road experience behind the wheel is going to make our roads safer. It’s clear that driving experience gained at a young age is going to improve car handling skills, but it is good judgement that is lacking in so many motorists.

Teaching and encouraging young children to cycle doesn’t only keep them fit, it hones road sense and may well make them safer drivers, too. At the very least, they are likely to show more empathy towards cyclists on the roads if and when they eventually get behind the wheel.

Recent analysis of our travelling habits have revealed that fewer young people are gaining a driving licence. The Department for Transport’s National Travel Survey in 2013 revealed a decline of up to 19 per cent in the number of young people holding a full driving licence since 1995. High insurance costs are assumed to be the main reason for the diminishing number or young drivers, but some have suggested that environmental issues, the rise of digital technology and increased urban populations mean the cachet that once came with driving is waning among the young.

Britain's most ethical insurance

The ETA has been voted the most ethical insurance company in Britain for the second year running by the Good Shopping Guide.

Beating household-name insurance companies such as John Lewis and the Co-op, the ETA earned an ethical company index score of 89.

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Twenty six years on, it continues to offer cycle insurance, travel insurance and breakdown cover while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all it does.