A new digital tool for learners and supervisors

Teaching a young person to drive is one of the most important things a supervisor takes on. It's also one of the most challenging. 

In Tasmania, 16-25-year-olds account for 22 per cent of road fatalities, despite making up just 13 per cent of licensed drivers. Research consistently shows that quality supervised practice makes a measurable difference to long-term safety outcomes. 

Over the past ten months, RACT has been meeting with Tasmanian learners and supervisors to understand what's working, and what isn't. The themes that kept coming up: 

• Road rules are confusing, and things have changed since I learned to drive 

• It's hard to know if we're making real progress or just clocking hours 

• I know how to drive, I just need help knowing how to teach 

• It gets emotional and stressful in the car 

What we're building 

We've been working closely with our sister club RAC in Western Australia, who has been designing and developing a smartphone app to help supervisors and learner drivers during the learner journey. We are working closely with RAC to explore how it can be adapted to best suit Tasmanians. 

Designed to be a ‘coach in the car’, the app will help learners and supervisors focus on building competence across critical skills rather than ‘getting to 80 hours.’ it is envisaged it will include: 

• Up to date road rules, pictorial checklists and short videos to help supervisors teach effectively at each stage 

• AI-powered routes tailored to practise specific skills and address gaps, and 

• Tassie-specific content covering regional hazards like black ice, wildlife, rural night driving, and long distances 

Be part of the pilot 

We're looking for a small group of Tasmanian learners and supervisors to get a sneak peek and test the app before it launches. Whether you're currently in the learning journey or about to start, we'd love your input.