Young driver training programes prove their merit
A recent survey conducted with the help of young UK drivers who completed a driving training program open to anyone between the ages of 11 and 17, has found a positive reduction in their risk of road accidents.
The program was called Seat Young Driver, and the research done by Young Driver Training Ltd. found a considerably reduced rate of accidents of young drivers who took part in the program when compared to the overall rate of newly qualified drivers.
The numbers related to newly qualified drivers aren’t very bad, but they’re not good either. Two of ten newly qualified drivers will be involved in a collision within six month of passing their test, and drivers aged between 17-24 will be involved in one in four incidents of serious injury or death – this is quite high when you consider that they only make up for one in eight fully licensed UK drivers.
Now when it comes to those who undertook the training program, fewer than one in ten of them, who have held a full license for at least six months, had been involved in a collision, which is less than half the national rate.
Interestingly enough, the UK only set up this program because of statistics from the Swedish Government which reflected the benefits of driver training young people. The conclusion from both the Swedish Government and the UK program was that training young people to drive at an early age is beneficial because they are much more receptive to road safety messages at those ages.
In the study done by the Swedish Government it was found that a minimum number of hours of pre-test driving experience actually reduces accidents among young drivers by forty percent.
The UK course allowed young people to get behind the wheel with a qualified driving instructor and learned basic skills like manoeuvring a car, overtaking, reverse parking and using a rundabout. There was also a winter driving course which focused on teaching proper stopping distances in dry, wet, snowy and icy conditions, as well as many other important skills.
