On the New UK Road Safety Strategy

Project Edward Webinar and Initial Reactions

It was a pleasure to be invited to participate in Project Edward’s extremely well-attended webinar response to the launch of the government’s Road Safety Strategy last week.

Over 500 people logged in to hear reactions from a panel of invested parties (I believe the word “experts” was even used at one point): from myself, representing the ADINJC, to road safety campaigner Dr Ian Greenwood, to Joy Allen, Police and Crime Commissioner for Durham.

Overall, most of the speakers were positive about the aims of the strategy, if not immediately convinced by the number of consultations referenced (it’s not just a DVSA thing) in lieu of more immediate, concrete action.

Graduated Driver Licensing and Key Omissions

For my own part, I took the opportunity to restate ADINJC’s support for a wider debate on Graduated Driver Licensing, a disappointing omission for many. You can learn more about the PACTS Road Safety Manifesto, which the ADINJC supports, here.

I also managed to have a bit of a moan about the omission of the two words “driving instructor” from a 23,000-word document on road safety.

This omission bothers me a great deal.

The Safe System and Human Behaviour

The Safe System, embraced by the new strategy, is about levelling up different areas to drive down road deaths. It takes as one of its basic principles that human beings will make mistakes and may choose to behave in ways that will result in sub-optimal outcomes. And all of this despite knowing better.

One area (in my experience, conspicuous by its absence from the majority of road safety dialogue) clearly in urgent need of levelling up is driving instructor training and development.

The Missing Role of Driving Instructors

Driving instructors do a good job, generally, often in difficult circumstances. We are not helped currently by test-waiting times and DVSA’s inability to recruit an adequate number of driving examiners. We operate within a culture where quick passes are more important than a thorough driving education. Our basic training is inadequate for the challenges of the mid-21st century. And, of course, we are self-employed – meaning additional training costs more than the list price, in real terms.

It is my view though, that the targets identified in the Road Safety Strategy will be extremely difficult to meet without systematic improvements to how the almost 45,000 driving instructors on the register are trained to engage with young people on behavioural and higher-order cognitive issues.

Training, CPD, and Systemic Weaknesses

It is generally accepted now, even within our own profession, that the majority of driving lessons delivered in the UK prepare young people for a test that focuses on Levels One and Two of the Goals for Driver Education (GDE).

Furthermore, there is no mandatory requirement within the driving instructor training and testing process for driving instructors to demonstrate knowledge of, understanding of, or an ability to address in-car any aspects of the higher levels of the GDE, for example, those elements that cause most road crashes.

Added to these factors is the frankly unsustainable situation where, once basic training has been completed by trainee driving instructors, there is no incentive or compulsion for any of us to improve our knowledge and skills. CPD is entirely voluntary, and as a result, is undertaken by a minority (albeit a growing one) of instructors.

From “Under-Utilised” to Under-Prepared

I have often heard driving instructors being referred to as an “under-utilised resource”. Perhaps I’m just having a bit of a bad day while writing this – it’s very late on a Friday – but this too bothers me.

We can only be considered under-utilised if we, as an entire profession, can contribute to improvement and progress on what has come before. In other words, our entire profession must become capable of developing the thinking, reflective, and higher-order cognitive skills of our learners.

Until we get there, we’re not under-utilised – we’re under-prepared.

Stewart Lochrie
Chairman