Young driver training program proves its worth
A survey of young UK drivers who completed a driver training program open to anyone aged between 11 and 17 years old, has shown a positive reduction in their risk of road accidents.
Research by Young Driver Training Ltd, the company behind the UK's Seat Young Driver program, found accident rates of young drivers who took part in the program were markedly reduced when compared to the overall rate of newly qualified drivers in the UK.
According to data from the UK’s Department for Transport, two out of ten newly qualified drivers will have a collision within six months of passing their test, with drivers aged 17-24 involved in one in four incidents of serious injury or death, despite only accounting for one in eight fully licenced UK drivers.
Comparatively, fewer than one in ten of those that responded to the Young Driver Survey, and had held a full licence for six months or more, had been involved in a collision – less than half the national rate.
Seat Young Driver marketing director Kim Stanton, explained that statistics from the Swedish Government on the benefits of driver training among young people were the basis of setting up the program.
“Our research, along with data from the Swedish Government, shows that training young people to drive at an early age when they’re much more receptive to road safety messages, really could save hundreds of lives per year, ” Stanton said.
Research undertaken for the Swedish Government found that establishing a minimum number of hours of pre-test driving experience, slashed accidents among young drivers by 40 per cent.
The Seat Young Driver course allows young people the chance to get behind the wheel with a qualified driving instructor and learn skills such as the basics of manoeuvring a car, overtaking, using a roundabout and reverse parking.
A winter driving course focused on teaching participants about stopping distances in dry, wet, snowy and icy conditions, as well as motorway driving in winter, defensive driving, what to do in a variety of emergency situations, and car preparation for the winter months has also been launched.
Do you think we should have similar driver training courses available to young Australians?
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