Newslink September 2021

Special feature: The growing problem of unlicensed driving
An (un)licence to kill
Tom Harrington LLB F Inst.MTD,
Driver Training Services,
takes a look at the growing
problem of unlicensed drivers
Driving without a licence is a
serious offence that can carry
significant penalties. Under the
Road Traffic Act 1998, it is an
offence to drive a vehicle
without a licence that is appropriate to a
vehicle of that particular class.
Yet there are thousands of drivers in
Great Britain and Ireland who are driving
without a licence or are disqualified. In
order to understand the factors
contributing to unlicensed driving, it is
essential to obtain an insight into
the motivations, attitudes and
perceptions of the different types of
offenders. This article looks at the whole
area of unlicensed drivers, including
behaviour, crash involvement, the role of
public education, factors contributing to
unlicensed driving and the abuse of
process by those who endeavour to avoid
doing their driving test.
Finally, a conclusion is given.
Usually a variety of terms are used to
describe people who drive or ride a
motor cycle without a valid licence.
Among the more common are
‘unlicensed driver’ or ‘unauthorised
driver’, but we also use phrases such as
disqualified, suspended, revoked or
cancelled. We also say ‘never licensed’.
Terms like ‘disqualified’, ‘suspended’,
or ‘revoked’ are generally used to
describe those drivers who have had
their licence removed by a judicial or
administrative process. In contrast,
‘never licensed’ describes those who
remain outside the licensing system
because they have never officially
obtained a licence, including under-age
drivers. Unlicensed driving remains a
serious problem in many countries,
despite ongoing improvements in traffic
law enforcement practices and
technology. In the United States, over 11
per cent of drivers involved in fatal
crashes are unlicensed, and over 16 per
cent of fatal crashes involve at least one
unlicensed driver. In Australia, unlicensed
drivers represent over 5 per cent of those
involved in fatal crashes, and 10 per
cent of the national road toll.
In Ireland, new figures reveal that there
were 53,194 offences for driving without
a licence or when disqualified. Similarly,
in Great Britain, as many as 800,000
unlicensed drivers were on the road;
that’s one in 40 drivers.
While it does not play a direct
causative role in road crashes, unlike
alcohol impairment or speeding,
unlicensed driving represents a major
problem for road safety in two respects.
First, it serves to undermine the
system used to monitor and manage
driver behaviour. Because they operate
outside the licensing system, unlicensed
drivers dramatically reduce the ability of
authorities to monitor and manage their
behaviour through sanctions such as
demerit points. In particular, it serves to
undermine the effectiveness of licence
disqualification which has otherwise
been demonstrated to be a very effective
deterrent to illegal behaviour.
Second, there is a growing body of
evidence linking unlicensed driving to
other high-risk behaviours including drink
driving, speeding, and motorcycle use.
Consistent with this, the crashes
involving unlicensed drivers tend to be
more severe and likely to involve a
fatality or serious injury than those
involving licensed drivers. Accordingly,
there is a need to better understand the
factors contributing to unlicensed driving
in order to develop and implement more
effective countermeasures to the
behaviour.
The prevalence of unlicensed driving
It has proved difficult for road safety
authorities to reliably estimate the
community-wide prevalence of
unlicensed driving. Given that it is an
illegal behaviour, it is likely that some
unlicensed drivers will attempt to conceal
their actions from the authorities and be
reticent to discuss their behaviour with
researchers. As a consequence, there is a
lack of definitive evidence available
relating to the extent and nature of
unlicensed driving. In Australia, a survey
of 309 unlicensed driving offenders
interviewed at Brisbane Central
Magistrates Court indicated that
unlicensed drivers should not be viewed
as a homogenous group, with significant
differences existing between offender
types in terms of their socio-demographic
characteristics, whether they were aware
of being unlicensed or not, their
behaviour while unlicensed, and the
factors contributing to their behaviour.
Among some offenders, unlicensed
driving appears to be indicative of a more
general pattern of non-conformity and
illegal behaviour.
While many offenders limited their
driving while unlicensed, others
continued to drive frequently. Moreover,
almost one-third of the sample continued
to drive unlicensed after being detected
by the police.
One of the strongest predictors of both
the frequency of unlicensed driving and
continued driving after detection was
whether the offenders needed to drive for
work purposes when unlicensed. While
there was some evidence that offenders
attempted to drive more cautiously while
unlicensed, this was not always reflected
in their reported drink-driving or speeding
behaviour. The results highlight the need
to enhance current policies and
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NEWSLINK n SEPTEMBER 2021