Young learner drivers could soon be forced to take lessons for a year before taking their test - making 18 the minimum age for a full driving licence.

A 12 month 'L-plate' probationary period would raise the minimum age by which teenagers could qualify for a full licence and drive unsupervised on the road from 17 to 18.

But it would also cut deaths on UK roads by 1,000 lives each year, says a major report to ministers by a coalition of leading insurance, motoring and road safety groups and parliamentary advisers.

The problem is not just 'boy racers' but also inexperience, they say. The sheer number and influence of the groups behind the report means it is be very hard for the Government to ignore their demands.

At present it is possible for a teenager with a valid provisional licence to take and pass a test within 24 hours of his or her 17th birthday - passing the theory test on day one and the practical driving test the next day.

The year-long probationary period is one of a package of measures aimed at reducing the disproportionate number of serious accidents - many of them fatal - involving younger drivers. As well as the human cost, it means higher insurance premiums for all drivers.

The ABI is being backed by the RAC Foundation, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, and road safety groups Brake, Roadsafe, and the Make Roads Safe Campaign.

And almost a quarter of passengers who has been seriously injured was travelling with a young driver. Young men are far more likely than young women to be involved in accidents.

Young men aged 17 to 20 account for just three per cent of the country's driving population - but 33 per cent of convictions for dangerous driving, including causing death and bodily harm.

The experts' report from the 'great and the good' of the motoring and road safety world was being handed today to ministers whose officials said the radical proposals would be studied seriously.

The experts' report also proposed limiting the number of passengers - typically to two - that drivers can carry in their first few months on the road.

They also raised the idea of a night curfew for young drivers - or at the very least encouraging them to drive less at night when more than half you driver accidents occur.

The new system would be similar to rules in California where restrictions on young drivers include a ban on newly licensed drivers aged under 18 from driving other young people for a year. They also cannot drive between 11pm and 5am unless it is a medical emergency or for school or work reasons.

The report entitled 'Young Drivers - Reducing Death on the Roads' explains: "A minimum learning period before the driving test would enable drivers to undertake supervised practice without an incentive to rush to take the practical test."

It said there were "clear benefits" but currently few incentives to learner drivers getting more experience. "Each year 50,000 17-year-olds in the UK pass their driving test with less than six months driving experience.

Transport Minister Stephen Ladyman said: "The Government takes extremely seriously the safety issues associated with young and newly qualified drivers.

"We work closely with the insurance industry to influence the behaviour of young and newly qualified drivers through incentives rather than regulation."

"The trend is getting worse not better. We urge the Government to adopt these proposals to improve safety on our roads and reduce this tragic loss of life."

Robert Gifford of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety said: "Too many young drivers are still killed and injured on our roads. These numbers are out of proportion to the percentage of young drivers acquiring driving licences.The proposals outlined here offer a way forward."

Also participating at today's conference will be South Yorkshire Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes, head of roads policing at the Association of Chief Police officers (ACPO).

The RAC Foundation said the proposals could help reduce 'pointless' young deaths on the road: "A combination of youthful optimism, lack of experience and peer group pressure makes young drivers particularly vulnerable."

Earlier this month, insurance giant Norwich Union warned young drivers face a hike of up to 40 per cent on their insurance policies because of the appalling record of young male drivers.

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