DRIVING COURSES - Driver Training Programs

Young Driver Development

Pricing

$495 - Single fee covers both drivers (Learner & Parent/Guardian)

Programs are scheduled when 8 or more experessions of interest are received. Please call 1300 555 576 to register your interest.

A program designed to enhance the period of supervised learning for young drivers prior to licence attainment

(Program commences at 9.00am and concludes at 4.30pm)

This one day program has been developed to add to the total learning experience of young drivers prior to gaining their licence.

Research indicates that the more young learning drivers engage in practicing driving while supervised, their subsequent post- licence driving is more likely to be crash free compared to those drivers who have a minimum period of supervised learning.

Learning Outcomes and Content

A major objective of the YDD program is the development of the relationship between the parent and the learner driver based on common and agreed principles and practice of risk free driving. The YDD program provides the opportunity for both the Young Driver and the Parent to develop a "team" approach to the supervised driving experience.

This program will seek to help young drivers fast track the skills of hazard perception and risk assessment, factors that differentiate their collision experience from experienced drivers.

An important issue to be addressed in this program is driver performance versus driver behaviour. It is not what the driver can do behind the wheel but what the driver chooses to do that determines safe outcomes.

Specifically the program will focus on:

• Driver profile incorporating Behaviour, Attitudes, Awareness, Motivation and Skills (BAAMS¨ Driver Profile)
• Driver self-awareness (insight)
• Dealing with overconfidence - attitudes
• Risk taking
• Skills - spatial perception, distance, speed, identification of hazards and risks, observation techniques
• Ergonomics for effective driver vision
• Basic vehicle safety maintenance
• Concentration - distractions (eg mobile phones)
• Automation responses to hazard cues vs coping with emergencies
• Relationships with other road users
• Critical Road Laws

The YDD program is not intended to train Parents to be Driving Instructors.

The YDD program does not replace Learner Driver lessons.

Participant Profile and Conditions

The YDD program is available to Young Drivers that have a current Learner Permit. The Young Driver must have completed a minimum of 20 hours of supervised driving practice and therefore be capable in basic vehicle control such as steering and braking.

The minimum of 20 hours practice enables the Young Driver to relate their own on-road driving experiences and observations of other drivers' behaviours, to the YDD curriculum.

The Young Driver must be accompanied by a fully licensed driver (preferably a parent or the person who usually supervises the Young Driver's practice). The accompanying driver will participate in all of the program activities.

Participants supply their own vehicle, either the young driver's own vehicle or the vehicle they drive most often.

The maximum number of participants is 32 comprising 16 Learner Drivers and 16 Licensed Supervisors.

One instructor is allocated to four teams during the practical activities.

Development Activities

The YDD program uses a range of activities to facilitate and stimulate driver development during the program.

There is a mix of group activities and information sharing in a classroom setting including:

• Basic Driver Safety Survey - highlights discrepancies in each driver's knowledge
• Review of the pre-program Learner to Parent Driving Behaviour Feedback (See details below)
• BAAMS® Attitude Questionnaire - small group activity addressing road safety myths BAAMS¨ Driver Profile analysis - group activity that facilitates meaningful translation of BAAMS¨ elements to suit each driver's language and understanding.
• Road Law Review - group exploration of critical road laws - leads to realisation that the driver must balance road law interpretation with behaviour that accommodates other drivers' errors.

The program includes practical in-car off-road driving activities designed to develop more realistic self-awareness of driver and vehicle limitations to underpin preventative strategies such as:

• Better use of vision skills to anticipate and detect hazards
• Choosing appropriate speeds to avoid emergency situations
• Improving spatial perception in relation to speed, reaction time and stopping distances
• Using vision placement rather than vision fixation to correctly position the vehicle
• Overcoming driver adaptation that may mitigate the benefits of vehicle safety improvements such as Anti-lock Braking Systems.
• Improving braking and steering

One practical segment involves non-driving vehicle safety and maintenance including:

• In-vehicle ergonomics seating and steering systems
• Vision improvement, glass, mirrors, wiper blades, etc
• Loose items in the cabin and distractions
• Under bonnet routine safety checks eg fluids
• Tyre safety
• Changing a spare wheel