My Grand Plan For Decent Driver Training In Sa

[Iron Chef]

Apologies in advance for the essay!

Hi guys,

The accident on Magill Road recently, whilst tragic in itself, seems to have spawned plenty of anti-hoon hysteria in the past few weeks, fuelled by right-wing talk-back DJs and journalists whipping up controversy to sell more papers or improve their ratings.

What's worse, there have also been plenty of SA politicians, the ones who we elect, who've jumped on this bandwagon in order to supposedly help their chances at the next election, the worst being Minister for Road Safety, Tom Koutsanis.

Airline pilots go through thousands upon thousands of hours of training, both physically in a plane, and in a simluator, being taught to handle their planes in emergency situations, before they are allowed to fly, and yet we, as a society, seem quite content to put our young drivers in potentially life-threatening situations in cars every day with little or no emergency training whatsoever.

Politicians will puff out their chests at this suggestion and point to the record low road toll as proof that the "big stick" approach to road safety is working, conveniently ignoring the fact it's the cars themselves have actually become safer rather than the drivers inside. And so we, the motoring public, in our apathy, believe the hype and blindly accept that increasingly harsh penalties for minor infringements are in our best interests of public safety rather than in the interests of reaping the government tens of millions of dollars in revenue each year.

So, to the issue of young drivers and how best to educate them. Current methods employed by the Motor Accident Commission and SAPOL include sending police officers into schools with images of blood and gore to supposedly deter young drivers from doing anything stupid on the streets. I can completely understand police officers wanting to do this - they are the ones, after all, who have to pick up the pieces when someone kills themselves on our roads. The problem is that, in general, such teaching methods are the ones that ADULTS think will work best with young drivers, not the ones that will have little effect on the drivers to need to hear the message most.

Why? Because young drivers generally assume they are brilliant at driving until it's proven otherwise. They look at videos of crashes and say to themselves "If that had been me, I would've...and the accident never would've happened". The presenters leave feeling they've got the message through, and then when a young driver is placed in the same situation as the video, in real life, they end up reacting in exactly the same way as the person on the tape. The reason for this is they have no understanding of their how they will behave, nor how their car will behave, in an emergency situation. Panic and shock set in, and basic mistakes are made.

The push for more hours in cars being supervised by trained instructors is a good start, but knowing how to reverse park and do a handbrake start, whilst important, won't help you know what to do when you've come over the crest of a hill at the 100km/h speed limit and there's a truck doing 20km/h on the other side, with no room for you to pull up safely behind it.

The only solution is to train young drivers in how to handle their cars and manage their own behaviour in emergency situations in a safe environment. On other words, advanced driver training.

Governments will point to a raft of studies (commissioned by governments, naturally) that suggest that advanced driver training has little effect in reducing the likelihood of accidents for young drivers, and in some cases can actually make matters worse. Aside from it being impossible to prove (or disprove) this theory, such studies are almost always based on flawed data. Because there’s no standardised system for advanced driver training, the content of courses varies widely. Some, for example, are aimed at developing skills for competitive track racing and will attract wannabe racing car drivers who usually think they’re much better drivers than they really are – the kind most likely to also be over-confident on the street, and therefore more likely to have an accident.

Because of the expense involved in setting up such courses, the governments will use this flawed data to reach a conclusion that advanced driver training courses are not a cost-effective option for reducing the road toll. In economic terms, it’s far easier just to stick to the current tried and true formula, which makes money rather than costing money.

In 1991 (back before “safety cameras” were discovered), the Australian Transport Safety Bureau commissioned a survey aimed at examining the effect that advanced driver training courses had on participants, who were on their provisional licences. It found that there was a significant improvement in both the skills and attitudes of drivers who participated, and suggested that the shock of having to operate a car in a simulated emergency situation during the course was sufficient to embed the experience in the participants’ memories, and was therefore likely to improve their response next time such an experience occurred in real life. I’ll post some excerpts from its conclusions later on.

The Plan

- Provide advanced driver training that places the focus on improving driver attitude as much as improving skills

- Give young drivers the opportunity to do this via hands-on experiences in a safe environment away from public roads

- Involve community service groups and not-for-profit organisations (such as car clubs) to provide volunteer trainers, and private enterprise to sponsor the course, to help keep the cost to participants at a minimum

- As an ultimate goal, lobby the current state government and its ministers to fund the course and make attendance compulsory, at a subsidised cost, for all learner drivers.

- Also petition the government to listen to the opinions of police from both WA and NSW who’ve noted a significant drop in illegal racing as a result of drag strips being built, and to reconsider its current stance on providing government funding for an all-new drag racing facility in South Australia.

It’s worth noting that there will always be a percentage of the population that does everything right on the road – for them this course will only serve to reinforce what they already know. At the other end, there will be a percentage on which this course would also have no effect – their poor attitude and driving habits will remain regardless. It’s the people in the middle I’m keen to target – the ones who, as a result of their training, end up making the right choices instead of the wrong ones: choices that may just save their lives, and the lives of those around them.

I've already had a positive response "in principle" from SAPOL, various businesses (both in and out of the motor industry) and the Sporting Car Club of SA, to my plan. There is still plenty of work to be done, and plenty of meetings to attend, so it will need plenty of support and plenty of determination on my part if I am to succeed. Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers

Kristian

[heslo]

I think it's a great idea Kristian and I know myself and others on here have expressed the same thoughts/feelings towards the situation. I myself having completed a driver training course definately can vouch for their effectiveness, it definately opened my eyes to just how quickly things can and do go wrong and gave me a chance to learn just what do do when things start going wrong. Like you said, there will always be a minority that no education will help, they will always do stupid stunts and eventually will hurt themselves but I think as a whole driver training is a greater solution than our current "safety camera" implementation.

I'll definately put my name down to help with whatever you need done

[Madaz]

I too endorse this initiative

[Dohmar]

I too endorse this initiative

Sounds like a real good idea. I think everyone out there could do with more training, myself included.

-D

[JMW]

Kristian i'd say your right on the money with this idea

[rhys5169]

great write up

[Damo_R34]

Excellent idea Chef, and as Sled would say "if it saves only one life, its worth it"

[unique1]

Even though im from WA i thought i would post in here...

great ideas IronChef, as u said i personally found the number one way to realise that a normal drive can go from normal to trouble (near misses, etc) in a second is for it to happen to you. People can tell you till your blue in the face but u just say that only happens to other people who dont know how to drive, etc and think your invinsible.

Only Then you will take notice and realise that it can happen to you and everytime after that u take a completly different attitude to doin risky stuff on the road.

But until that near miss (though some dont get that warning and get hurt/die on the first bad situation they get into) most people dont think it will ever happen to them.

This training will get people in that risky situation but in a safe environment and hopefully teach them before they get on public roads and therefore think before speeding/skids/burnouts/drifting on the road.

Edited April 11, 2009 by unique1

[Krishy]

f**king awesome idea Chef...this is a really good move mate

[Luke_ENR34]

the iron chef, not only a cooking genius lol

[lococard]

How many teenage road fatalities are put down as accidents?

Most recent would be the WRX v. Skyline on Magill road - drag racing, not an accident.

Hills run with a teenager and his girlfriend in his commodore - drifting, not an accident.

Would be good to teach young drivers how to handle their cars in dangerous situations but how can you help people who plainly bring it on them self?

[Aberax]

the iron chef, not only a cooking genius lol

Great Idea, i too would be interested in doing extra training. I would love to do a defensive driving course, but its just trying to get time off work to do it.

[r33 chris]

great idea, i had 2 do a defensive driving course when i started my apprenticeship and learnt a fair bit only good can come of it

[SkyHi_33]

Top idea, no matter how experienced you are at driving, professional training will only help things further...

I have done some advanced motorbike rider training out of the normal program and have learned a lot more (and there's a lot more to learn), have come close to being totally wiped out but knew exactly what to do to save my ass. If it wasn't for that i don't think i would have been writing this.

Edited April 11, 2009 by tx3_90

[RubyRS4]

+1 all the way.

I've had many near misses and only managed to "be in control" of the situation from advanced training in both cars and bikes. Especially having been a keen racer and knowing how quickly things can go wrong @ 200kph ... or even @ 100kph ... within the blink of an eye if that! Advanced training, track days, even racing, helps to hone your alertness and response in an emergency.

Everything you've said Kristian is 100% ... do it.

[SLED]

Excellent idea Chef, and as Sled would say "if it saves only one life, its worth it"

Correct......all power to you Kristian.

I don't think you'll have too many negative responses or feedback with this idea.

[medman2damax]

Chef, well written, logical and succinct.

I have been saying this for a long time, and you have my full support. Happy to use any means at my disposal to support your initiative.

As motoring enthusiasts we are getting pigeon holed into the so-called "hoon" category and it's time we did somethign about it, before we are only allowed to drive daihatsu Mira's at 30KPH everywhere. Taking away rights and liberties is not the answer, threatening to crush our cars is not the answer.

Decision makers do not exist to restrict their voters, rather to facilitate the needs (and indeed wants) of the public in a way that is safe for the masses.

I'm with you.

[Iron Chef]

How many teenage road fatalities are put down as accidents?

Most recent would be the WRX v. Skyline on Magill road - drag racing, not an accident.

Hills run with a teenager and his girlfriend in his commodore - drifting, not an accident.

Would be good to teach young drivers how to handle their cars in dangerous situations but how can you help people who plainly bring it on them self?

From the first post:

It’s worth noting that there will always be a percentage of the population that does everything right on the road – for them this course will only serve to reinforce what they already know. At the other end, there will be a percentage on which this course would also have no effect – their poor attitude and driving habits will remain regardless. It’s the people in the middle I’m keen to target – the ones who, as a result of their training, end up making the right choices instead of the wrong ones: choices that may just save their lives, and the lives of those around them.

[lococard]

From the first post:

It's worth noting that there will always be a percentage of the population that does everything right on the road – for them this course will only serve to reinforce what they already know. At the other end, there will be a percentage on which this course would also have no effect – their poor attitude and driving habits will remain regardless. It's the people in the middle I'm keen to target – the ones who, as a result of their training, end up making the right choices instead of the wrong ones: choices that may just save their lives, and the lives of those around them.

Certainly.

I have alot to learn, hopefully something pulls together.

[TheTunersGroup]

A relative of mine has just scored a job as an advanced driving instructor at the Emirates Driving Institute in Dubai. He's headed over there from Australia for a year to take up the job.

He's just sent me some photos of the driver training centre. It sure makes you see how much more seriously they take driver training in Dubai than governments do in Australia.

They have a fleet of 800 (yes 800) Nissans (The Sunny - Pulsars back home), with each vehicle replaced every 4 years. ...

This is the technical department and building which houses the lecture halls ...

An interior photo ...

You can view the rest of his photos and find more info about that facility here ...

http://www.tunersgroup.com/TunerWire_Live/...r_training.html

- Adam