An Otley road safety campaigner has welcomed Government moves to cut down the number of accidents.

The Government is looking at making driving tests harder and also at introducing safe driving into the school curriculum.

Also being considered is the Swedish system under which drivers undergo 120 hours of training before taking a test.

Tony Davison, of Otley, whose son, Adrian, was killed in a road accident five years ago and now campaigns on behalf of road safety charity Brake, said he would welcome changes to the driving licence.

"Brake have suggested having a graduated licensing scheme where there are restrictions on the size of vehicle and the age group.

"I think it is an excellent idea. There is such a volume of traffic on the roads now and the way things are at the moment, it is possible for someone to pass their test in the morning and be driving on a motorway on the same day."

Mr Davison said he believed the driving test should also take into account driving conditions including driving in the dark and in busy town centres.

"There could be an A and a B test where passing the A test would allow the driver to drive on A roads, but not motorways and then maybe after six months experience they could have either another test or have a number of lessons on motorway driving."

Mr Davison, who recently went to Germany with Brake to talk to young soldiers about the risks of drinking and driving, said it was a matter of making the roads more safe for all.

"I'm sure the young ones will feel we're trying to dictate to them, but it's a matter of trying to save lives and its been shown that it is the 18 to 20 age group that is most likely to be involved in an accident."

Transport minister Stephen Ladyman said that too often people learned to drive after passing their tests. A consultation is likely to take place later in the year and so far no firm proposals have been put forward.

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "We have one of the toughest driving tests in the world and we think driving instructors offer drivers very good training.

"But we have all seen the statistics for young driver accidents and this is something that we need to take seriously and have a look at.

"We don't believe that temporary control measures, such as having a curfew on night driving for newly passed young motorists are the best way forward as they do not necessarily change drivers attitudes and most revert to their original behaviour."