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Motoring news

Poor drivers to get 'special training'

28/09/2010

Plans for 'special' training directed at helping poor drivers have been included in government legislation, but are yet to be introduced. The Department for Transport (DfT) have slammed the idea according to the Telegraph, which suggests that the course will be a waste of time. The claims were made in a new report called "Offenders and Post Court Disposal Courses" which has expressed doubt over whether the course would work after interviewing police, magistrates and offenders themselves. New training was due to be offered to motorists convicted of a number of offences, including speeding, going the wrong way down a one-way street or failure to comply with traffic lights. The idea to give bad drivers a booster course was unveiled in the 2006 Road Safety Act, but has not yet been enforced. Those about to be banned from the roads were earmarked for the extra training as well as drivers with too many points on their licence, in a bid to reduce penalties and impending exclusion from driving. A similar scheme already exists for speeding drivers, which offers the chance of rehabilitation instead of points. Some drivers surveyed said they would prefer to take the points or ban than spend time on the courses. Robert Gifford, Executive Director of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety told the Telegraph that any additional training needs to tackle drivers' attitudes, not just improve driving skills: "Serious traffic offenders think that they are already good drivers and that being caught was just bad luck. They need to be helped to develop an understanding that crashes can occur anywhere and at any time. The actions that we take can contribute to the likelihood of such events. Any new courses will need to focus on culture change." When the courses mentioned in the 2006 Road Safety Act will be introduced is still unclear. However the DfT's findings will provide ammunition for critics who question whether it is right to let risky drivers to stay in the driving seat.

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