Teaching teens to drive, without the stress
A new Tasmanian pilot program is helping learners, supervisors and young drivers build confidence behind the wheel, writes Mel Percival, RACT GM Advocacy and Government Relations.
Do you remember learning to drive? Or perhaps you're currently teaching someone?
It's often a stressful experience — nervous learners, overconfident first-timers and supervising drivers doing their best to stay calm. When we asked what would make this journey easier, the answer was consistent: we need more support.
In Tasmania, young people are over-represented in crash statistics. Sixteen- to 25-year-olds account for 22 per cent of fatalities, despite making up only 13 per cent of licensed drivers. Teaching a young person to drive is one of the most important — and most challenging — responsibilities a parent or supervisor takes on. Research shows that quality driving instruction is strongly linked to young people becoming safer drivers.
For the past ten months, we've been meeting with Tasmanian supervisors and their learners to understand the challenges and develop practical solutions to help.
One initiative is a smartphone app being designed and developed by our sister club RAC in Western Australia.
The app will give learners and supervisors timely, clear guidance through a staged approach to learning, covering everything from basic to more complex skills. It will include short instructional videos aimed at supervisors to help them support their learner.
To make sure we get it right, we've been speaking directly with Tasmanian learners and supervisors to explore how it can be adapted to best suit Tasmanians. While every experience is different, some themes came up again and again:
"The road rules are confusing, and things have changed since I learned to drive."
"How do I plan the learning journey?"
"It's hard to know if we're making real progress or just clocking hours."
"I want this to be about becoming a safe driver, not just hitting the hours target."
"It gets emotional and stressful in the car."
"I know how to drive, I just need help knowing how to teach."
We're looking for a small group of learners and supervisors to be part of a pilot to test and provide us with feedback on the app. This is one of several projects underway as part of the Youth Road Safety Project, a partnership between RACT and the Tasmanian Government.
If you're teaching or learning to drive, or will be soon and want to be involved, sign up here