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After the Test : Choosing a First Car

Vehicle Technology

Vehicle safety is evolving at a rapid rate. Vehicle technology is increasingly used to prevent accidents (e.g., Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS)) and to prevent injuries in a crash (e.g., airbags).

However, the first car for new drivers is very often second hand and, due to budget constraints, may not have many of the safety features which are taken for granted on more modern vehicles.

Remember, if the new driver passed their test in an automatic car, they are only licensed to drive automatic cars.

When choosing a vehicle for new drivers, safety should be taken seriously, especially given the greater risk of a new driver being involved in an accident. The Vehicle Safety section of the RoSPA website is a good starting point to find out about vehicle safety technology. RoSPA have also produced a Checklist called Choosing Safer Vehicles , which is a good resource for identifying safer cars on a budget.

Choosing safer vehicles Choosing Safer Vehicles
Click here to download the document in a PDF format(PDF format 492kb)
Choosing safer vehicles is a resource which lists safety features to think about when buying a first vehicle for a new driver, either first hand, or in the second hand market. It is structured as a tick list to make it easier to compare features between two vehicles.