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Theory Test Pro examines how driving instructors are using young driver training courses to put youth on the road to safer, better driving.
Young drivers have a lethal problem: 20% of young drivers will be in an accident within six months of passing their driving test. Road deaths account for 1-in-200 of all deaths in the UK, but 25% of the deaths are among 15-to-19 year olds.
It’s a horrifying situation. And why young driver insurance premiums are through the roof and the government is considering increasing the base learner age from 17 to 18, while rolling out ‘Graduated Driver Licensing’ (GDL) which would introduce exemptions on night-time driving and a curb on the number of passengers a newly qualified driver can have.
Pull Over MPs While the government has been accused of dragging its heels over the new legislation, some ADIs have taken matters into their own hands in recent years, introducing youngsters to the basics of driving and driver awareness long before they’re old enough to qualify for a provisional licence.
ADI Karen Smith who runs Blackpool-based Younger Drivers UK explains: ”Provisional licence holders can go out onto public roads without any training whatsoever and could in theory drive up to 70mph on dual carriageways… It’s a sobering thought that the law still allows this.”
And it’s why she and other ADIs are encouraging young people to start earlier. Jon Reynolds, founder of Drive B4 U Turn 17, explains that “experience is key to reducing the alarming statistics as the more driving experience a novice can gain, the better they will be at dealing with high risk situations.”
*“Provisional licence holders can go out onto public roads without any training whatsoever and could in theory drive up to 70mph on dual carriageways… It’s a sobering thought that the law still allows this.”*Karen Smith, Younger Drivers UK
Hearts & Minds
ADI veteran Martin Baxter believes that age plays a vital role too – he’s set up a young driver course in Dundee to offer, “an opportunity for young people to develop positive and respectful attitudes to driving at an age where they are perhaps more willing to take these ideas on as their own.”
On a more pragmatic level, he believes that young driver courses help youngsters master basic technical skills so they can spend more time in their actual lessons on public roads, focusing on “how to share the road with road users and gain more experience in areas where novice drivers are more vulnerable, such as rural roads, night driving and dual carriageways.”
“My course is an opportunity for young people to develop positive and respectful attitudes to driving at an age where they are perhaps more willing to take these ideas on as their own.” Martin Baxter, Young Drivers Dundee
Controlled Courses
The young driver courses are inevitably carried out on private land in controlled conditions. For instance, Martin’s is based at Errol Airfield, Dundee while Karen’s are on the grounds of Blackpool Sixth Form College. The actual course content is made up of what young drivers would experience in a normal driving lesson – for instance, as part of his course, Martin focuses on technical issues “such as clutch use and confidence, steering control, use of gears, use of brakes to slow and control the speed, controlled stops and spacial awareness.”
Larger operations like Jon’s Drive B4 U Turn 17 are more ambitious in scale; his Barton Stacey venue features road markings, roundabouts and more: “We have approximately 12 driving instructors working on some of our training days,” explains Jon, “so participants can experience realistic situations such as meeting and crossing other traffic, overtaking, priorities at roundabouts and junction procedures.”
There are also wider, more far-reaching benefits too as Karen reveals: “There is so much peer pressure placed on young drivers, as well as pressure by parents to get their full licence as soon as possible after the age of 17. At least doing it from 14, 15 or 16 means they can take their time to acquire all the practical skills needed.”
*“If our training can help to save the life of just one young person when they are out on the road, then I feel we will have achieved what we set out to do.” ***Jon Reynolds, Drive B4 U Turn 17
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A Fly in the Ointment
According to Swedish research, such young driver training has been shown to reduce accident rates by 40%. But last year the RAC went on the record, stating, “there is limited evidence to support the effectiveness of road safety initiatives in schools” and notes that “pre-driver training does not play a fundamental role in keeping young people safe on the road”.
It’s an opinion not shared by the ADIs: “By giving young people an understanding of the basics of driving at an earlier age,” explains Jon, “they will be more confident and have better road awareness when they begin driving in today’s busy traffic situations. To be clear though, we’re not advocating replacing lessons with them.”
And Martin agrees – he believes it will take a combination of initiatives across the board to drive down the horrifying statistics, not young driver training on its own: “Imagine the solution as pieces of a jigsaw. When put together correctly, we can make a lasting change for the better to young people’s driving – and young driver training courses are an essential piece to solving that puzzle.”
As Jon says: “If our training can help to save the life of just one young person when they are out on the road, then I feel we will have achieved what we set out to do.”
And we suspect the RAC wouldn’t dare argue with that.
Instructors, share this blog with your students If they have a younger brother or sister who wants to get a head-start on learning to drive, this blog can help – and is easy to share. Just use your Theory Test Pro messaging feature. For instructions, click here.