Image: Are you at risk from a driving ban?

Results from a survey conducted by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM), the UK’s leading road safety charity, show who is most likely to be disqualified from driving. Working with information provided from the DVLA after a Freedom of Information request, the IAM looked at all the age groups that had the highest number of penalty points and driver disqualifications over the last 12 months.

Top of the list were male drivers aged between 20 and 30. Out of the 92,136 people across the UK who were disqualified between June 2013 and June 2014, the highest percentage was young men. Almost one third of the total number (31,668) fell into the male aged 20 to 30 group. The most disqualified age was 25 years old, with 3,294 men and 454 women banned from driving.

Overall men were much more likely to carry out an offence that leads to a ban. Out of the total, only 13,481 women were disqualified, less than fifteen per cent. The figures are better for older drivers, with just 3,874 bans handed to those aged in their sixties.

Child Drivers?

Bizarrely, there were several bans for drivers under 17 – below the legal age limit of driving. 230 bans were passed on under age drivers, including four 13 year olds and four 12 year olds.

Simon Best, chief executive of the Institute of Advanced Motorists, was not surprised by the results: “These statistics strongly reflect the research we have already carried out in this area – that young males are very much the at risk group when it comes to driving safety.

“We believe targeting the attitudes of these drivers specifically, through advanced training for example, should be a major part of future road safety campaigning. Reducing offending in this age bracket would dramatically improve safety on our roads for all road users.”

“It is also of great concern that youngsters not even eligible to hold a provisional licence are being banned at such young ages. Parents need to be aware their children are putting their own lives and those of others at huge risk by taking the wheel of a car on public roads.”

Do you think these results are a fair depiction of driver’s today? Are you male aged between 20 and 30 who feel you are being singled out unfairly? Let us know in the comments below.