The ongoing seatbelt advertising campaign from Think! shows just what happens in a collision at 30mph if you don’t wear a seatbelt.
Here is the pre-watershed version:
Road Safety Minister Paul Clark said, “If you are involved in an accident while not wearing a seat belt then your body experiences a series of three collisions damaging vital internal organs. This campaign reminds drivers that – no matter how short their journey or how slowly they are driving – they are risking their life if they set off without putting their seat belt on.
“I hope this campaign will help everyone realise that they need to belt up every time they get in a car.”
With recent research showing that drivers are less likely to belt up on low speed, short journeys on familiar roads, the £1.3 million THINK! Campaign hopes to show that drivers are still risking their lives. Drivers are twice as likely to die in a crash if they do not wear a seat belt and if everyone belted up, one life a day could be saved.
The full advert can only be aired after 9pm due to its graphic content.
Many driving instructors will already be aware of coaching and indeed, some are already incorporating it into their lessons. ‘Coaching’ is the big buzz word at the moment in the industry with the DSA attempting to incorporate new and improved techniques into teaching and testing with a view to creating much more responsible drivers than are created using traditional ‘instructional’ methods. Indeed, ‘coaching of driving skills and methods’ is listed in the competency framework for CPD for driving instructors and with the EU Hermes project focusing on ‘coaching and optimal communication skills’, you can expect to see a lot of development in this area over the coming months and years.
Coaching is not just a case of asking questions (which instructors do already as part of their everyday teaching). It is about asking questions which raise the awareness and responsibility from within the coachee. There are many tools that instructors can use from within the coaching toolbox and the effects of using coaching with learners can be quite profound.
Sir John Whitmore & Ged Wilmot
To date, there has been little information available about coaching specifically for driving instructors. Last year, the University of East London ran its pilot course – a Postgraduate qualification in ‘Coaching for Driver Development’ in which a handful of the best professional driver trainers and coaches from all aspects of the driving world were invited to attend. I was fortunate enough to be one of the delegates invited to attend that course, along with my good friend and colleague Kathy Higgins of Insight2Drive. We have recognised that courses and workshops for driving instructors are few and far between and so we have developed a one day coaching course specifically designed for Approved Driving Instructors.
The one day ‘Practical Coaching Techniques for Driving Instructors’ interactive workshop offers driving instructors essential information which can be incorporated into the everyday work of an ADI. The content will include basic principles and benefits of using coaching in driver training, what makes a good coach, and lots of practical coaching techniques. There are two workshop dates currently available, Monday 22nd February 2010 in Oldham and Thursday 18th March 2010 in Liverpool.
Both courses will be run by me (Ged Wilmot), Claire Wilmot and Kathy Higgins. Having a wealth of driver coaching experience, we are excited to be able to offer such a course to ADI’s throughout the North West of England.
The course fee is £139, which includes lunch and refreshments. Spaces are limited and going fast, so you’ll need to act quickly!
If you would like further information about the course, please contact Claire Wilmot on 07956 104160 or complete the contact form on the Active Driving Solutions website.
At Latics Driver Training, we have always been proud of our high pass rates and we will be continuing the trend but at a much faster rate for some of our customers. Our intensive and semi-intensive courses have always proved popular and now we can offer our customers an even quicker way to get their licence.
Our new fast ‘pass in a week’ crash course means that customers can now start their lessons on a Monday and pass on the Friday!
Although these courses are referred to as ‘crash courses’, rest assured, we will not be teaching you to crash! Quite the opposite. Lessons taken intensively mean that with little time to forget in between lessons, learning is much quicker.
In fact, latest Government research found that of all successful test candidates, the average number of hours taken with an instructor was 47 and the average time taken to pass the test was 13 months! With our pass in a week crash course, the cost will be much lower than taking weekly lessons.
Our all-inclusive ‘pass in a week’ crash course is being offered at an introductory price of just £599, which means that compared to taking lessons weekly, you could save hundreds of pounds. Although the majority of our customers pass in less hours than the national average, based on the national average figures, you could save over £400 with our ‘pass in a week’ crash course!
We’re also so confident that the vast majority of our customers taking the ‘pass in a week’ crash course will achieve a pass at the end of the week that we guarantee to pay for your next test if you are unfortunate enough not to pass on the first attempt!
Places on the ‘pass in a week’ crash course are limited so to avoid disappointment, we recommend that you ring us on 0161 345 3452 or contact us through our website asking for an application form.
The controversial plan for all learner drivers to be accompanied on driving test by their driving instructor from October 2010 has been partially scrapped.
A meeting was held at DSA’s Headquarters with ADI representative organisations on 24th September 2009. At the meeting, the DSA responded to the objections raised by ADI’s and ADI organisations to the original proposal of making it mandatory for supervising drivers to accompany candidates on all driving tests.
DSA Chief Executive Rosemary Thew explained that the DSA had reflected on the points raised. Chief Operating Manager Brian Gilhooley read out the following statement:
“The proposal that candidates should be required to take an observer with them on their practical car driving test from October 2010 has generated a great deal of debate. DSA has received comments from a variety of stakeholders and has met with the ADI Consultative Groups and the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS). We have listened carefully to all the views expressed. We remain convinced that an observer sitting in on test will enhance the learning process, which, in turn, will provide road safety benefits. We recognise, however, that there are valid reasons why an approach based on education and incentivisation might be preferable to mandating through regulation at this stage.
“So this is the approach we suggest: at the start of the test, driving examiners will ask all candidates if they would like their driving instructor (or another observer, such as a parent, guardian or friend who has taught the candidate to drive) to sit in on their test. The examiner will then ask the candidate if they would like their instructor be present for the test result and debrief. This will allow candidates to take advantage of the opportunities available to support their ongoing learning and development, but will leave the final decision with them.
From today (10 September 2009), 18-year-olds will be permitted to drive lorries. Until now, the minimum LGV driving age was 21, but this has been lowered across the European Union to try and encourage more young people into the haulage industry.
BBC Radio 1’s newsbeat reports the story of Adam, an 18-year-old who works for his father’s waste company. Until now he’s been helping out, knowing that it would probably be a while before he got to drive the lorries himself. But today, he took his first lesson in an LGV.
Adam said: “I was over the moon that I could do it. It’s just better money, it’s just better everything. It means more responsibility.”
He says the lessons are hard: “They make you reverse into really tight gaps, it’s quite nerve-wracking. You’ve got to drive around narrow streets, you feel a bit worried about what you’re doing. But it’s all good.”
From 28th September 2009, case-study style questions will be introduced into the Driving Theory Test for learner drivers and riders.
The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) have introduced this change as one of the early initiatives following the results of their Learning to Drive Consultation, published earlier this year (see this blog entry for a summary of the consultation).
The Theory Test will remain in its present two-part format, with 50 multiple choice questions followed by the Hazard Perception Test.
The time permitted, the pass marks and the cost of the theory test remain unchanged.
The case study element will be included in the multiple choice part of the theory test, and it will ask five questions, some of which will be multiple choice, others multiple response, based around a single scenario that learner drivers and riders may encounter when driving on the road.
An example of one of the case study questions can be found here.
The main purpose of the case study questions is to help bring the theoretical element to life for novice drivers and riders.
As part of the same initiative, the DSA are aiming to introduce an abridged version of the theory test in October 2009. Those eligible to take this test must have successfully completed the voluntary ‘Pre-Driver Qualification in Safe Road use’, which was introduced in January 2009 by the DSA and currently available in 10 locations across England and Scotland.
The consultation for the adbridged Theory Test ended on 20th July (read the full consultation document here), but the results are yet to be announced. Make sure you visit the Latics Driver Training Blog regularly for updates, or better still, why not subscribe for instant email notification? Just enter your email address on the blog homepage and hit ‘subscribe’.
Almost a quarter of a million young motorists are driving illegally because they do not have any insurance cover, according to a report released today by BBC’s Newsbeat.
They found that more than 20% of 17 to 20 year olds are not covered by a valid car insurance policy, which amounts to a staggering 243,000 illegal young drivers on our roads.
Many illegal drivers cite the huge cost of an insurance policy as being the reason for not having cover. Yet the risks of not having a policy are huge, not just for themselves, but also for anybody they may be unfortunate enough to crash into.
The BBC reports the story of 21 year old Gary Street, who was hit by an uninsured driver at 30mph in Manchester two years ago.
A £2.3m advertising campaign launched last week to warn of the risks of driving whilst under the influence of drugs has received a mixed reception from the British public and road safety experts.
The television advert warns motorists that police can spot the involuntary signs of someone being under the influence of drugs if they are stopped. These signs include severely dilated or constricted pupils. The advert shows a car carrying several young people with their eyes enlarged, adding: “Your eyes will give you away.”
Young men aged between 17 and 29 are thought to be most likely to drive while on illegal drugs. Indeed, a recent survey in Scotland suggested that 81% of clubbers have driven whilst under the influence of illegal drugs.
The Department for Transport (DfT) estimates that as many as one in five drivers or motorcyclists killed in road accidents may have an impairing drug (legal or illegal) in their system. Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said in a recent interview, “Whatever one’s views on drug taking, we’ve got to make it absolutely socially unacceptable to drive while under the influence of drugs, because it can kill.”
Road users are injured and die on the Borough’s roads every year. The age group most affected is 17 to 25 year olds.
The Road Safety Unit of Rochdale’s Impact Partnership are organising a driver safety evening presented by a range of road safety experts. The event is open to 17-25 year olds and their parents. It takes place at Rochdale Town Hall on 6th May 2009 at 6.30pm.
A meeting was held at DSA’s Headquarters with ADI representative organisations on 24th September 2009. At the meeting, the DSA responded to the objections raised by ADI’s and ADI organisations to the original proposal of making it mandatory for supervising drivers to accompany candidates on all driving tests.
From today (10 September 2009), 18-year-olds will be permitted to drive lorries. Until now, the minimum LGV driving age was 21, but this has been lowered across the European Union to try and encourage more young people into the haulage industry.
From 28th September 2009, case-study style questions will be introduced into the Driving Theory Test for learner drivers and riders.
They found that more than 20% of 17 to 20 year olds are not covered by a valid car insurance policy, which amounts to a staggering 243,000 illegal young drivers on our roads.
Road users are injured and die on the Borough’s roads every year. The age group most affected is 17 to 25 year olds.
