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DIA: Driver training should be revamped
18 July 2012
The Driving Instructors Association (DIA) has welcomed the Transport Select Committee's report on road safety in the UK, focusing especially on the possibility of changes to how learner motorists are tested and trained.
MPs examining the government's framework for road safety argued that stronger leadership is needed to improve conditions for British drivers and ensure that fatalities and accidents continue to fall.
This was underlined by the DIA, which argued that a more holistic approach to teaching young people how to drive is crucial if they are to be prepared for the roads by the time they pass their test.
Launching the report, committee chair Louise Ellman said: "Action is required to improve road safety for young drivers, including an independent review of driver training."
She added that "robust political leadership" is the crucial factor in ensuring road conditions continue to improve over the coming years.
DIA chief examiner Mike Frisby argued that the committee was correct to highlight the issue of young drivers.
"Road safety education in the UK seems to start and end with the Green Cross Code and 17 is far too late to start it again," he added.
Mr Frisby suggested that a "modularised" system incorporating elements such as motorway and night driving should be implemented, meaning young motorists are able to gradually learn the full gamut of skills they will require when driving on their own.
"Too many learners are put under pressure by parents who don't think through the consequences of poor driver education," he claimed, noting that many learners do the fewest amount of lessons they can in order to pass as quickly as possible.
Other recommendations made by the Transport Select Committee include highlighting best practice by local agencies and noting innovative practices carried out by these executives, in order to improve performance elsewhere in the country.
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