Young drivers fear doubling of costs

YOUNG drivers fear the cost of motoring could double over the next ten years, forcing them off the road, a survey claims.

A poll of 3,495 motorists for Auto Trader found many expect the annual cost to be as much as £4,580 in ten years’ time, double the current cost.

This would result in the overall cost of motoring rising to more than £135 billion a year.

As many as 71 per cent of those polled reckoned it would be extremely difficult for young people to buy a car in the future.

More than half (53 per cent) of 17-24-year-olds believed there would be a fall in the number of young people learning to drive over the next decade.

With new European laws changing the way insurance rates are calculated for women, nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) who had been driving for more than five years believed they could not afford to be a first-time motorist today.