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Steering young drivers
toward a skill for life |
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| By Christopher Bullock, Chief
Executive, IAM |
Last year, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling tackled the brave
new world of computerised hazard-awareness testing and did well:
he clicked in nearly all the right places, and spotted the hazards
in good time on the screen ahead of him.
The test only took 15 minutes, but Mr Darling had to negotiate the
screen hazards under the watchful gaze of a dozen journalists. Wet
trunk roads, teaming with tractors, lorries and children at play
were all there to catch him out.
“I’m doing what every politician should never do and
that is to risk humiliation,” he said, squaring up to the
screen. It was a high risk strategy – but it paid off. Mr
Darling was able to draw on his long driving career with many years
behind the wheel, points free, to see him through the test.
Of course, experienced drivers like Mr Darling are used to predicting
hazard possibilities – including the sometimes bizarre behaviour
of other road users. Novice drivers don’t have the luxury
of that experience and too many of them have to learn the hard way
– which normally means a collision of some sort.
For the IAM, Mr Darling’s dexterity with the mouse was a defining
moment. We had argued for some years in our meetings with the Government
that it is only by increasing driver education and in particular
hazard awareness – which is perhaps the core of advanced driving
– among the novice drivers that deaths and serious injuries
in the vulnerable 17- 25 age group could be reduced.
Now – with the introduction of the Driving Standard Agency
computer simulation as a welcome extension of the theory test –
we are on the right track. Spotting hazards early and learning the
best response to them is a skill for life. And the sooner young
drivers learn to spot those hazards, the better.
Research has shown that nearly one in five accidents involve a motorist
with less than one year’s experience and a novice driver can
take up to two seconds longer than an experienced to respond to
dangers on the road. And at one time, the Government was presented
with figures that show young male drivers between 17 and 19 are
ten times more likely to be killed on the roads than drivers aged
between 35 and 54.
Around a million people learn to drive each year, but only a fraction
of them go on to formally improve their driver experience through
post L test education.
Pass Plus is one possible next step for a novice driver who has
just passed the “L” test, but the skills required for
the Advanced Driving Test are within reach of most drivers, whether
or not they take the Pass Plus option first. The Road Safety Minister
David Jamieson has put it well: “Too many new drivers are
being injured because they are not getting enough experience before
they take their driving test. We want to prepare them for a driving
careers, not just to pass their test.”
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| “Too many novice drivers
have to learn the hard way – which normally means
a collision of some sort” |
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That’s why the IAM has been making special efforts to attract
younger drivers and has a £10 discount arrangement for young
drivers (under 26) who wish to experience an advanced driving course.
Once a young driver has decided to take the first step by finding
out more about advanced driving techniques, an army of IAM volunteers
around the UK is ready to help them prepare.
When they pass, not only will they find motor insurance a less daunting
prospect, they will also save money by avoiding the so-called accidents
that are inevitably the result of driver error. More importantly,
they will increase the time they spend at the wheel concentrating
on their driving techniques and improving them as a result. That
means they are making a contribution to road safety which indirectly
benefits us all.
Technology alone cannot provide all the answers for younger drivers.
Indeed, on the day of the launch, there were the inevitable technical
problems that go with new computer programmes. But if I had to choose
between a young driver crashing a computer or crashing a car, I
know which I would prefer.
For more information, contact the IAM
on:
020 8996 9625 - Website: www.iam.org.uk |
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