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Young drivers could have to wait until they are 18 before they take their test - and then a further year to get a full licence.

Radical rules being considered by ministers also include banning teenage drivers from carrying pals.

A 12-month "learner period" would mean drivers would have to clock up at least 100 daytime hours behind the wheel and a further 20 hours of supervised driving at night.

A Government commissioned report by the Transport Research Laboratory also suggests newly qualified drivers would - for the first year - be hit by a curfew between 10pm and 5am unless they were carrying a passenger aged over 30.

They would also be banned from carrying anyone younger than that if they are under 30.

More than a fifth of road deaths in 2011 involved drivers aged 17 to 24 and about 10% of novice drivers are caught committing an offence within their twoyear probationary period.

Teenagers can currently apply for a provisional licence three months before their 17th birthday and pass their test within weeks.

The DfT said the ideas were only proposals but added: "We are committed to improving safety."

Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: "Young people are four times more likely to die in a road accident than as a result of drink or drugs.

"Yet, as a society we seem to turn a blind eye to the carnage. If this was any other area of public health there would be an outcry.

"We should all have an interest in preserving young drivers' lives rather than exposing them to undue risk at the stage of their driving careers where they are most vulnerable.

"This is about ensuring their long term safety and mobility. Not curtailing it."