Driver Safety Education Blog

We had the opportunity to have another person go with my young driver (now 15) last evening. A different car, different area in the country and a different adult in the front passenger seat. I was along for the ride.

The other person is a professional driver with many years of experience. He has a very easy going way about him and offered my young driver gentle suggestions and pointers as we drove. The only driving he had done previously was city driving for the last several months. There was a mix of highway at 110 KPH, back roads with no center line at 80 KPH and the usual urban streets in a small town with 50 KPH and 30 KPH areas. Total time was about an hour and it was time well spent.

My young driver said it helped a lot and we will be going back to the country roads as soon as we can for more driving practice.

All in all, it was a great learning experience. We share our thanks to this very kind and caring gentleman.

Drive safe...

Cheers - Mike

Petro Canada is not the first, second or a company I would have thought had some insights for young drivers but they do! Here is an article called, Back to School with Young Drivers which is actually short but good.

If you think the young driver issues only apply to North America, they don't. Here is a PDF file called, SAFER DRIVING Parents and Young Drivers. It is from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in England.

Here is a good paper, which is also available as a PDF called, Reducing young driver road trauma: guidance and optimism for the future, from BMJ Publishing.

Finally for now, here is a great site for new young drivers and parents. The article (and many associated links) is called, Facts and Statistics on Young Drivers.

Drive safe...

Cheers - Mike

Yes, more on young driver distractions, because it is so important. I am hoping the resources found here help parents help their children.

Here is a link to a very good article on the more common young driver distractions called, 10 Driving Distractions and How To Deal With Them. It is from a series of articles from Edmunds.com.

From Australia, RACQ (Royal Automobile Club of Queensland) has this very good page called, Driver Distractions.

CBS had a good report back in 2007 called, Study Cites Teen Driver Distraction Danger. It is a good read and mentions items not covered elsewhere.

From Monash University Accident Research Centre in Australia, there are a number of good links to distracted driver studies called, Driver Distraction (including mobile phones).

From a site called Young Driver Awareness, in Australia I believe, we have this very good distracted driver article called, Young Driver Awareness.

From Safer Calgary there is a PDF file about distracted driving. Here is the link, http://www.safercalgary.ca/pdf/Safer_Calgary_Distracted_Driving.pdf.

There is a huge amount of information available for new young drivers, if only they would seek it out. But most don't. So it is up to us to seek it out and have training sessions armed with the knowledge we have gained. I don't mind learning at all, so I find the opportunity to find new information and pass it along to my young driver a great way to help him learn and to discuss the new information with the "whys" and "what fors".

It seems, from my research, that gadgets or passengers are the variables which contribute the most to young driver collisions.
Good luck with your young driver discussions and training.

Drive safe...

Cheers - Mike

New Young Drivers can be easily distracted by other passengers, a horn honking, turning a corner and sunlight in the eyes, thinking about something else for a second, paying attention to the left but not the right, concentrating on one thing at the expense of everything else, and I think the list could go on for a while.

A gentle reminder when a lapse takes place is good. Yelling is not good. The gentle reminder doesn't destroy the confidence already attained, but makes them aware that driving is a full-time activity, not part-time.

That's why I like my young driver starting at 14 years old. He still listens, and listens well. I think he will be a very good driver.

There are some 14 year old kids who are still quite immature and really shouldn't be driving at that age. How do you tell? Well hopefully, for the rest of us on the road, the parents can tell and gauge when the learning experience should take place.

A gentle but firm correction is sometimes necessary but the young driver should take it as a helpful comment, just trying to make them a better driver. And, most do take it that way. I've noticed that those with self-confidence can take a critique, and many who are not self-confident get angry.

So, let's help our new drivers through positive feedback and gentle reminders.

Drive safe...

Cheers - Mike

During a search for peer tutoring for high school students learning to drive, I found this site and associated study, published as a PDF. Here is the link to the page called, High school driver education using peer tutors, direct instruction, and precision teaching.

That's all for today.

Drive safe...

Cheers - Mike