Two out of five young drivers think it is all right to break the 30mph limit by 10mph or more, according to a survey.

And 24 per cent of these drivers aged 16 to 21 see nothing wrong in drinking up to one and a half pints of beer or equivalent alcohol before taking to the wheel.

The survey results were issued as a campaign to overhaul the learning to drive system launched by road safety charity Brake, the Association of British Insurers and Co-operative Insurance.

The poll of 500 people aged 16 to 21 showed 58 per cent of the young people polled reckoned young drivers behaved more dangerously while carrying young passengers.