REVEALED: Drivers can take to the road aged 16 – if they are on benefits

16-year-olds can start driving a year earlier than everyone else if they’re on disability benefit, The Mail on Sunday has revealed.

Those receiving Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will also be able to get 40 hours of free driving lessons; If they have to pay for this lesson it can cost up to £2,000.

The number of 16-year-olds using PIP has tripled in five years and campaigners warn the driving loophole could have significant consequences for road safety.

Young drivers, who make up 1.5 per cent of British drivers, are involved in 9 per cent of all fatal or serious collisions, according to British insurers.

To get an early provisional licence, 16-year-olds need to be at the top level of PIP for ‘mobility’ matters and receive around £80 a week for this. They also need to show that their condition affects their ability to get around and plan trips.

But eligibility rules aren’t limited to physical ailments; This includes mental health problems such as anxiety, ADHD, depression or fear of open spaces. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, a 16-year-old is eligible if their mental health ’causes them extreme psychological distress’ and this prevents them from completing a journey independently.

They can then drive on public roads accompanied by an adult and take and pass a test to receive their full licence, on their 17th birthday.

This statement sparked an angry response from critics. Nicholas Lyes, policy director at road safety charity IAM Road-Smart, stressed that young drivers are already likely to experience serious crashes. Andrew Gilligan, transport expert and research fellow at think tank Policy Exchange, added: ‘We shouldn’t be luring young people into a life of benefits with incentives like this.

‘One of the criteria for getting advanced PIP is that you can’t do basic things. Therefore, we may be risking road safety. This is really stupid and wrong.’

It’s not just young people claiming benefits who have significant advantages over those working on the road. People with social rights who want to learn to drive can take 40 hours of free lessons if they have a Motability car.

The £3bn taxpayer-funded car leasing scheme for benefit claimants accounts for one in five new car sales in Britain. Under the scheme, PIP claimants will be able to exchange some of their benefit for a new car.

The company, whose chief executive Andrew Miller is paid £800,000 a year, is offering 40 hours of free lessons to people who buy a Motability car, have a provisional licence, and qualify for any means test.

Conservative Party welfare spokeswoman Helen Whately said: ‘Motability is designed to support people with severe disabilities who would otherwise have difficulty leaving their homes. However, over time, the criteria and evaluation process moved away from its original purpose.’

The Ministry of Transport was contacted for opinion.