30/05/2019
I thought this was worth sharing.
As a Driving Instructor, there’s something that has always concerned me.
How old do you think your children are when they start learning to drive?
Most of you will say 17...
Wrong. It’s from the age of about 3 or 4. Yes that’s correct. They’re your passengers. They often watch what you do, what you say and how you act. So they are forming attitudes about road safety from a very early age.
Where are these attitudes coming from?
When they turn 17 you entrust them with us to help them pass their test. BUT, it’s not just about passing their test, It’s about developing safe and careful drivers.
Between the ages of 17 & 25 they are most vulnerable due to the brain not having fully matured, especially the part that deals with danger and risk. This age group make up a small percentage of the nation's drivers but are involved in over 20% of the nations fatal Road Traffic Accidents.
The biggest killer of teenage girls in this country is probably their boyfriend's driving.
The majority of this is down to attitudes that are formed over many years from that young age.
Yet a lot of parents are more concerned with the cost of lessons and how many their child will need. Many are not interested in the safety aspect of learning to drive. Just the cost. What price a life or lives.
On average it cost over £1000 to learn to drive. For some it’s more and for some it’s less.
So for that price you would like us to create safe and considerate drivers. And many of us do.
I’m proud of my record.
So let’s say we are talking about 40 hours on average. In that time apart from actually learning to drive correctly and safely, we also possibly have to try and change an attitude to risk that has built up over at least 10 years.
This attitude generally comes from you.
So the next time you drive too close to the vehicle in front.
Do a dodgy overtake
Exceed the speed limit
Be an amber gambler
Run a red light
Start moaning and swearing about the driver in front.
JUST THINK FOR A MOMENT.
This behaviour and attitude is rubbing off on your child. And they will see it as normal behaviour.
So please help us to help your children become safe drivers.
Thank you for reading such a long post.
