Former international rally driver Rosemary Smith is calling on all political parties to include driver training for second-level students as part of their election manifesto. She talks to Sandra O'Connell about road education in Ireland.
Ms Smith, who still competes on the senior circuit, is founder of the Think Awareness programme, which provides driver training to transition year students around the country.
Already more than 6,000 students have participated in this course, which includes both classroom based lessons and hands-on driving experience in dual controlled cars on private ground. Some 95 per cent of her students go on to pass their driving test first time in later years, she says.
"Firstly students have class room instruction covering topics such as rules of the road and the dangers of drink or drugs and driving," she explains. "From there, groups come out to a fleet of dual controlled cars which the programme provides and we physically teach them how to drive.
"Our whole emphasis is on safety. At the moment youngsters of 17 years of age are thrown into a car and out on our roads. This is both scandalous and suicidal. I have been talking to various ministers about introducing driver training to schools, but they are taking no notice. It's totally discouraging. The Government will not take me up on this at all."
Driver training in schools is already commonplace in parts of the US and Europe. She feels that in time the Irish Government will be forced to take action on this issue by the EU.
"I believe that in years to come EU legislation will stipulate that no young person can go on the public road without having some tuition on private ground."
At the moment, an estimated 345,000 people are driving on provisional licences. Of these, drivers holding their second provisional licence are entitled to drive unaccompanied, a situation which she believes is untenable.
"How many youngsters have you seen out on the road with L plates, with nobody accompanying them, leap frogging down the road because they don't know how to use their clutch and accelerator."
Another problem with the current regime is that it is not mandatory for a novice driver to learn from a qualified instructor. "It's not compulsory for young people to go to a driving school. They can be taught by their brother, sister or grandmother, who may not be good drivers themselves.
"It should be mandatory that every person going for their provisional driving licence must have some education before they can get it. In places such as Germany or Luxembourg you have to go through a kindergarten programme. It's like a pilot, you don't just get your licence and fly. You have to clock up your hours. The same thing must apply to a car. You have to get proper tuition from a fully trained instructor."
The introduction of driver training in schools is an ideal opportunity for any government to show it cares about young drivers, says Ms Smith. "How often do we read about another young person being killed on the road? I've been driving all my life and, as I say to the kids, look at me, I may be a crumbley, but at least I'm still alive."
Eddie Shaw, chairman of the National Safety Council, is also in favour of training for novice drivers. However, he points out, such training must be appropriate.
Advanced courses which offer such services as skid-pan training may not be suitable, as they may encourage the illusion that people can control a skid in a real life situation and therefore encourage novices to drive recklessly.
"The sort of training that myself and Rosemary are agreed upon is the type of training that is proven to reduce the incidence of crashes, particularly for novice drivers. That type of training focuses on prevention. Rather than helping novice drivers to get out of a skid, you train them how not to get into one. It would include education on how to drive safely on a wet or icy road, for example."
The introduction of driver training to the national curriculum would be helpful, he believes. "The programme which Rosemary runs, which is both classroom and hands-on, is capable of further development and being brought into the school curriculum at around fifth and sixth year."
Contrary to popular perception, the gardai do enforce the law relating to provisional licence holders driving unaccompanied, he says. In these cases, the driver is prosecuted for driving without a licence. However, the current situation where people can drive unaccompanied on their second provisional licence is something he feels uncomfortable with.
The driving test itself could also be improved. "Apart from testing knowledge and technical ability, it should test the novice driver's awareness of the key circumstances which cause crashes for novice drivers on the road. That would be the best thing any test could do."