Research indicates that increasing the amount of pre-driver experience can potentially reduce the crash involvement of young drivers. To encourage greater parental involvement RACV implemented a pilot Parent/Learner Program, in conjunction with its Driving School. The objectives of the program were to: (1) provide parents with practical information and advice about effective supervision; (2) encourage parents and learners to undertake effective driving experience in a range of driving conditions; (3) involve the parent in the learning to drive process at an early stage, and emphasise the benefits of many hours of supervised driving experience. This program was piloted over a four month period, and approximately 500 parent/learner sessions were delivered. A survey of 153 parents who participated in the program was undertaken. Parents reported having a better understanding of the importance of pre-driver experience, and being more likely to give their learner supervised driving experience after attending a lesson. While a more detailed outcome evaluation is required, these results indicate that encouraging the driving instructor industry to promote parental involvement in the learning to drive process may be one way of achieving more supervised driving experience among learners. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E202275.
Samenvatting