Driving on the school curriculum

Today's young drivers are tomorrow's company car, van and truck drivers - but many youngsters never get the chance to drive on business because they are killed within days, weeks or months of passing their driving tests.

Road crashes are the single biggest killer of young people and every hour of every day a person under 25 is killed or seriously injured in a car crash. In the last four years, the death rate amongst young drivers has more than doubled, while the overall number of deaths and serious injuries has fallen.

Now the Government has placed action to stem the death and injury toll of young drivers among the key issues on its road safety agenda. Speculation has focused on the possibility of raising the legal driving age from 17 to 18 years and putting curfews on young drivers because many crashes happen at night.

But the UK's fi rst university-affiliated safe driving academy believes neuroscience holds the solution to cutting the carnage.

Poor driver behaviour is the cause of 95% of car crashes and the London-based a2om academy has ditched the traditional 'one size fits all' approach to driving.

Scientists have discovered that the frontal lobe of the brain - the clever part of the brain responsible for decisionmaking - does not mature until the age of 25.

Therefore, said Gary Austin, managing director of the a2om academy: "We will only make young people safe on the roads when they get behind the wheel of a car by changing attitude and behaviour. There is not a problem with the actual mechanics of driving; it is the young drivers' immaturity that is causing the crashes.

"Young drivers do not make a conscious choice to have a crash. Crashes occur because the frontal lobe of the brain is not mature enough to recognise hazards that occur when a young person is driving.

"If we can exercise young drivers' brains and accelerate development of that section of the brain using neuroscientific stimulation techniques, then they will respond to driving situations in a more mature way and the number of crashes involving them will reduce."

Involved

As chief executive of the Driving Standards Agency for six years until the end of 2005 and having worked in the NHS for 13 years and spent time working at Department for Transport, Mr Austin said: "I got involved with the venture because I believe the a2om curriculum is a better way to train drivers."

While, the initial focus of a2om is on 17-year-olds, interest has also come from the parents of university students and, in the future, Mr Austin believes the corporate sector could be a target market alongside specific employment areas such as football clubs. Additionally, he says sectors of the company's curriculum could be targeted at foreign drivers as well as older people.

a2om bills itself as the 'Oxford or Cambridge' of driving education and Mr Austin said: "It is very clear that a new innovative approach to training young drivers is needed."

During Mr Austin's career at the DSA more than 4,500 young people were killed on Britain's roads many of them at night and on motorways. Therefore, both should be focuses for driving tuition but neither feature within the current driving test.

Currently most young drivers pass their test after 46-48 hours of training, but Mr Austin says it takes longer to train a driver and advocates 90-100 hours of pretest training.

"Passing the driving test after a few lessons does not make someone a terribly safe driver. We need to influence driver behaviour and attitude and recognise that a person's judgement remains immature until they are 25 years old. Rather than raise the driving age limit or introduce curfews, the Government should prescribe a minimum amount of work to be completed over a six to nine-month period," said Mr Austin.

Following a pilot programme involving five Harrow School youngsters, the £2,500 per student programme is being rolled out by a2om - alfa to omega (A to Z) motoring - to schools nationwide.

David Elleray, director of boarding at Harrow School, said: "I can still remember the news coming through of my first head of house having been killed in a car crash and the stab of horror when I heard. Since that moment I have wanted to help boys in my care learn to drive properly; to drive safely; and not just to pass a driving test.

Educates

"a2om educates the boys about the dangers of driving, but also the fun of driving and is far more comprehensive in terms of road skills and safety skills than anything I have ever come across."

Three entrepreneurs launched the initiative 12 months ago and a2om has now trained its first 50 instructors - there will be 250 by early next year - and is on course to train 1,000 young drivers this year with 8,000 17-year-olds expected to complete the curriculum next year.

Nearly 100 hours of tuition blend neuroscientific exercises with in-car teaching in Audi A3s, classroom discussions and online 'homework' sessions over six to nine months leading up to the driving test. Crucially, there are also six'hours of post'test work involving motorway driving, more classroom tuition and mentoring.

Online

Every student completes an online psychometric test to profile their specific behavioural tendencies towards driving, which also examines their parents as role models.

"Parents are often not good role models and if they drink-drive, use their mobile phone and speed then their children are likely to follow suit," explained Mr Austin.

The results of the test are then translated into a bespoke training programme for each young driver targeting their main risk areas. This includes working their way through a CD-Rom programme that asks the students to respond to footage of risky scenarios as they would in real driving situations - response times are up to 30% slower than older drivers due to the immaturity of the brain - and improvements are made using instant feedback. For each on-road lesson - there are 40 hours of in-car tuition - there is a structured plan.

Theory

Finally, the student will take the DSA theory test and will also attend five group classroom session that will examine issues such as peer pressure, drink and drug-driving and driver fatigue before taking their driving test.

Research shows that crash rates fall by half over the first 250 miles and by twothirds over the first 500 miles of driving. Therefore, posttest mentoring includes the option to improve driving skills in adverse weather conditions, at night and on the motorway in a safe off-road environment. A further option is for youngsters to have their own car fitted with a 'black box' so driver and vehicle performance can be monitored and feedback given to each student and parents by instructors.

Mr Austin said: "Our curriculum is designed to encourage self-development and assessment via group discussions, driving diaries and personal development plans. It is about designing a curriculum around each young person and treating them as an individual rather than simply training them to drive."

Successful graduation results in a certificate and also access to insurance discounts through Royal & SunAlliance, which will additionally recognise a crash-free first 12 months of driving with an additional one year's no claims discount.

To obtain a full driving licence today a person must undertake a theory test, 35-40 minutes of driving, a hazard perception test and a 'show me, tell me' test and is allowed up to 16 minor faults before failure.

Tougher

"Today's driving test is tougher than in the past. But our curriculum makes young people find more out about themselves and their approach to risk. We want young drivers to feel confident, but not over confident and we want them to get from A to B no matter what the weather conditions are or the time of day and to be safe," explained Mr Austin.

Mr Austin admits the curriculum cost is not cheap but he points out that the cost could be the different between the life and death of a son or daughter. He said: "We are putting a young person's lifestyle on the line. Driving tuition in this country is about controlling a vehicle. But, we have consciously set out through our curriculum to put training in the context of making a person a safer driver."

Ultimately, the success of a2om's approach to training young people to drive will be determined by whether the driving test pass rate is higher for those who completed the curriculum than for those who have not and their safety record.

Mr Elleray said: "The broadening of the curriculum is vital if we are to prepare youngsters for the outside world.

"For me, it will be extraordinary if in a few years time all the major schools did not have as part of their formal curriculum some aspect of road safety and road driving because there is no doubt that for parents, schoolmasters and friends the time we worry most is when youngsters are out in a car. The more we can equip them to cope with that situation, the more we give them a true education and not just an exam education.”

Mr Austin concluded: "If we are successful I believe the Government will then react and ultimately driving will become part of the school curriculum. Brain stimulation is part of the solution to reducing the number of young people involved in road crashes."

Micro drivers have stars in their eyes

The Surrey based brand experience centre has developed a young driver training programme which focuses purely on getting children over 4ft 11in behind the wheel to develop driving and handling skills as well as driving tuition to prepare older teenagers for their driving test.

Peter O'Halloran, managing director of Mercedes- Benz World at Brooklands which opened in autumn last year, said: "The Stars Driving Club is already helping young drivers to refine their skills as soon as their feet can reach the pedals. We are encouraging children and teens to understand how to control and handle a car, while practising in a safe and controlled environment."

True cost of inexperience

In 2005, Department for Transport data reveals that 846 drivers, passengers and motorcyclists aged 15-25 were killed, 7,362 were seriously injured and 62,146 were slightly injured.

There are two main reasons why young drivers have a poor safety record - a lack of road experience, and an inclination to take unnecessary risks with speeding a major crash contributory factor.

It is calculated that driving inexperience - a poor appreciation of road conditions and an inability to adapt driving style - is a contributory factor in almost 40% of crashes involving 17 and 18-year-olds and almost 20% of crashes involving 19 and 20-year-olds.

There are also major concerns surrounding night-time driving, a time when drivers are more likely to be under the influence of drink or drugs. It is calculated that young drivers double their risk of death or serious injury at night. A recent survey by insurance company More Than revealed that one-in-five young drivers said they would take to the wheel after using drugs.

Death toll

In a bid to cut that death toll the Government is looking at toughening up the rules for young drivers and that could include increasing the minimum driving age to 18. There have also been calls for the drink-drive limit for young drivers to be cut and controls to be put on the number of passengers young drivers are allowed to carry and a night-time driving ban as well as introducing the principle of safe driving into the school curriculum.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said: "Young drivers, particularly young male drivers, are over represented in casualty statistics. It is a serious issue and it is an objective of Road Safety Minister Dr Stephen Ladyman to reduce casualty rates."

However, while there are no detailed proposals, any measures to tackle young driver casualty rates are likely to focus on changing the attitudes of novice drivers and not introducing new laws. The spokeswoman said that Dr Ladyman 'was not convinced' that control measures were the best way forward. The Driving Standards Agency is currently conducting an extensive review of training and standards and will report back to the DfT with recommendations. If changes are suggested and they win Government support then consultation with the driver training industry and other interested parties will take place prior to their introduction.

Meanwhile, a House of Commons Transport Select Committee inquiry into novice drivers is looking at:

• Changes to the driving age
• Whether the risks faced by novice drivers is a consequence of age, inexperience or a combination of both
• Their attitudes to driving
• The effectiveness of the existing practical and theory driving tests at identifying safe driving skills and behaviour and whether the hazard perception test has achieved its objectives
• The possibility of introducing new pre-test requirements, such as a minimum number of hours or miles driving, or a minimum period between obtaining a provisional license and taking the test.
• The possibility of introducing motorway driving and night driving into the training regime

Compulsory

• Making professional tuition compulsory
• A graduated licensing scheme involving the phasing-in of driving privileges over a fixed period of time or until a second test is passed. This could include: a lower speed limit, a lower drink-drive limit, passenger number restrictions, night driving restrictions.

Separately, RoadSafe with other organisations - the Association of British Insurers, the FIA Foundation, Brake, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety and the RAC Foundation - has put forward a four-pronged strategy to enable young people to be safer drivers and to save lives.

They want to see:

• A minimum learning period before the driving test, enabling drivers to undertake a supervised practice without an incentive to rush to take the practical test
• A structured learning programme for all new drivers, covering the different road and traffic conditions learner drivers should experience before taking the test. This could be implemented via a logbook in which the driver would record the number of hours they had spent driving, and their experience according to a syllabus tailored to each driver to reflect their attitude to driving
• Encouragement for young drivers to carry fewer passengers. This could be implemented through a requirement not to carry more than a certain number of passengers during the first few months of driving, or graded penalties for accidents while carrying passengers. Another option is a targeted advertising campaign to remind young drivers of the particular risks they face when driving with others in cars
• Encouragement for young drivers to avoid driving at night

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