Learning to drive costs are too high for young learners

A third of young adults in UK find learning to drive, car ownership too expensive

Wednesday 5th March 2014 | 0 Comments

A survey commissioned by insurance price comparison website Gocompare.com shows that young people feel priced out of car ownership, or even learning how to drive. Over a third (35 per cent) of non-drivers aged between 17 and 25 responding to the survey said it is just too expensive to learn to drive or to own a car.

The Gocompare survey also showed that 32 per cent of young people believe they spend less using public transport than it would cost them to run a car, though 22 per cent admit to feeling trapped at home by not being able to get around more. The survey’s respondents also said that, on average, young drivers spend £1,831.40 a year keeping their car on the road, with four in five spending up to 30 per cent of their income on running their car.

Almost two fifths (39 per cent) of young drivers spend over £2,000 a year. And even just obtaining a full driving licence can cost around £1,381 (based on Driving Standards Agency figures showing that the average learner driver needs 47 lessons and 22 hours of private practice before they pass their test) in driving lessons, licence and test fees.

18 per cent of young drivers said they turn to their parents for help with their motoring expenses, while 15 per cent of 17 to 25 year old drivers hold a full licence but cannot afford to own a car themselves.

Gocompare.com’s chief operating officer, Lee Griffin, said: “Learning to drive and owning your own car used to be something of a rite of passage for young adults but now it seems that many are just finding it too expensive. Car insurance is one of the biggest expenses for an inexperienced driver but there are ways to try to reduce the cost as you build up a safe driver record and no claims discount.”

View article in full by clicking here

Carly Brookfield in Road Safety News

Wednesday 5th March 2014

Is the skill of driving valued highly enough?

The head of the Driving Instructors Association (DIA) is the latest confirmed speaker for the Young Driver Focus* conference to be held in May 2014.

As CEO of one of the UK's largest driver education and training bodies, Carly Brookfield describes herself as “a passionate advocate of the importance of professional driver training in delivering safer new drivers to our roads, as well as developing the skills of existing licence holders and road users”.

In her presentation, titled “Driver Education - Preparing young people for real life on our roads”, Carly will ask whether the skill of driving is valued highly enough, and therefore is its acquisition - and the need to continually develop it - taken seriously enough?

She will also examine the issues surrounding learning to drive and the efficacy of the current system in preparing young drivers for real life on the roads.

As well as considering what's not working, she will look at what could work better  - and how we should be developing driver education in the future.

Carly Brookfield is responsible for the day to day management and strategic development of the DIA Group, and directs a portfolio of organisations focused on developing driving standards and standards of driver training, in the UK and internationally.

The DIA is the UK's largest membership organisation for professional driver and rider trainers, representing more than 11,500 trainers.

*Young Driver Focus

Young Driver Focus is a collaborative partnership between Road Safety GB and FirstCar, supported by Arval who are providing the venue, technology and refreshments. It is free for Road Safety GB Academy members to attend. The capacity is around 150 delegates and only a handful of places remain available.

The conference will look at “cutting young driver casualties now and in the future”. As this suggests the event will be forward-focused rather than a retrospective look at young driver collisions and casualties.

It will be held at The Arval Centre in Swindon (just off the M4) on Wednesday 14 May 2014, 10.00am – 3.30pm.

For more information contact Nick Rawlings or Sally Bartrum on 01379 650112.

Click here for the article online

Check out our February newsletter, discussing telematics, latest ADI news and top offers

http://bit.ly/1eY6S5e

ADI standards check: quick guide published

ADI standards check: quick guide published A quick guide about how the ADI standards check will work has been published. The ADI standards check will replace the check test on 7 April 2014. The quick guide explains: when you need to take a standards check what you must bring with you what happens in the standards check how you’ll be assessed what happens at the end of the assessment Read the quick guide Detailed guidance In November 2013 we published the guidance that’s been given to examiners so you can see in detail what will be assessed and how. You can read the detailed guidance and find out more about the standards check on GOV.UK.

Spring Professional Development Day - Locations and Dates Announced

Due to the success and demand of last year's Professional Development Day event we are organising an additional Spring PDD and at two locations! We will continue the theme of meeting the Standards Check and have further developed the workshops in accordance to recent Standard Check announcements. There will also be a greater focus on client centred learning and an additional 'Essential Business' workshop that is tailored around driving instructors effectively running their own business. Tickets for each location will cost £69 per person and we are also offering group discounts if you book six places or more. Tickets are limited so to avoid disappointment book early. Eastwood Park - Falfield, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, GL12 8DA Our first PDD event is on Monday 17 March 2014 at the picturesque country house Eastwood Park, over looking stunning formal gardens and acres of meadows and woodlands in the beautiful Gloucestershire countryside. Just a mile from the M5 (J14), Eastwood Park is easily accessible from Bristol, Gloucester, South Wales and the Midlands, including Bristol and Birmingham’s International Airports. AmpleFree parking is also available. For more details on the venue please click here Eastwood Park also hosts accommodation and special rates for our delegates have been secured with the venue. Please contact lynda@driving.org if you would like to reserve a room. To book tickets for Eastwood Park PDD click here, for groups over 6 click here for discounts. York Racecourse, York YO23 1EX

Our second spring PDD event will be on Monday 28 April 2014 at York Racecourse, which is a world class racecourse with fantastic views of modern grandstands and the racecourse itself. York Racecourse sits on the southern edge of the City of York with over 2,000 free on-site parking spaces. It also has excellent train links as well as being easily accessible from York's main road. For those traveling by air, it is within easy travelling distance from a number of international airports. Visit their site by clicking here

To book for York Racecourse PDD click here and for groups over 6 click here for discounts

Workshops in more detail... Following the success from our last Autumn PDD event in 2013, we have designed a variety of workshops that focus on developing key aspects of your ADI business, such as meeting the Standards Check, clients centred learning and running an effective business. Client Centred Learning We are excited to provide an interactive workshop that will be looking at how a teacher led approach compares to client centred learning. This session will highlight the importance of a Client Centred approach and will be led by renowned driver coaching experts. Meeting the Standards To ensure you are working effectively to meet the National Standards, we’ve created a compact workshop that guides you through all of the criteria of the DSA Standards Check form SC1 by DIA's own expert Education & Training team, Olivia Baldock and Howard Redwood. This session will address ‘Lesson Planning’, ‘Risk Management’ and ‘Teaching and Learning Strategies’, which will ensure you leave feeling confident on each assessment. Essential Business Tips Running your own business is no easy feat so we’ve created this tailored Business workshop that will cover the basics such as from writing successful business plans to marketing strategies, pupil acquisition, customer service and social media. This is a must for any ADI looking to develop their business in a competitive market.

DSA opening hours: Christmas and New Year

DSA will close at times over Christmas and New Year, but its online services will be available as normal.

DSA will be operating a normal service up to and including Tuesday 24 December.

However, DSA’s online services will be available throughout Christmas and the New Year. You’ll be able to:
book and manage your theory or practical driving test
use the DSA online business service
use instructor services

Changing or cancelling a test

If you want to change the date of your test or cancel it, you must give at least 3 clear working days’ notice or you’ll have to pay again. Sundays and public holidays don’t count as working days.

Find out more

Making the grade. Make your view count on how ADIs are professionally evaluated

The DSA have asked us to feedback views from trainers on a new grading system for ADIs. With the advent of the new Standards Check in 2014, comes the opportunity to develop a new grading methodology.

We'd like your ideas and inputs on this one. Click on this link for a very short survey (only 6 questions!), and the results will be fed directly into the DSA, as they consider the options ahead of introducing the new Standards Check itself this coming April.

Some voices (and national associations) within the industry are calling for a simple pass or fail system, where only the fact of whether you have passed or failed would be made public. But does such a system offer an opportunity to reflect the higher standards of those instructors who would naturally wish demonstrate they are not only meeting the standards, but exceeding them?

Is there a more effective way of communicating to the public that there are various standards and levels of quality within in driving instruction?

It has been further suggested by those in favour of a mere pass or fail system that perhaps the actual mark an instructor gains could also be made public (at the instructors own discretion) but would that add any real value, especially as many customers will not be aware of what that mark means (the status quo), and it depends on the instructors own communication of that mark for them to get the message (and when the regulator will only confirm a pass or fail status, will that communication be seen as mere marketing spin by the individual instructor?). Would a publicly available grade or band, ratified by a government agency, be a better way for both trainers to demonstrate their quality, and be a more official rating system for the public to trust in than pass rates, testimonials, unofficial ratings and instructor's own say-so?

Fifty shades of grade

We're not suggesting a myriad and complex grading system but rather than pure black and white, would it better instead to develop a system which reflects higher standards, if we as a profession are truly committed to raising the standards? Many other, familiar educational systems could be utilised and these are already widely recognised and understandable to both pupils, parents, employers, companies and other customers. A fail is a fail, and perhaps needs little other communication, but is just passing a good enough bar to reach for? How about pass, merit, distinction? Or similar to the Ofsted inspection system within general education: grade 1: (outstanding); grade 2 (good); grade 3 (requires improvement); grade 4 (inadequate)? There are even systems used widely in employee appraisals in companies across the UK which could be considered using terms such as Top, High, Performing, Developing, Low. Or are there other systems you could suggest which would be effective in reflecting varying levels of quality and professionalism?

Give us your views now and help shape change on how we rate ourselves, and perhaps better communicate to the wider world the level of our professionalism.