A Message to all Motor Insurance Providers

The Transport for Buckinghamshire Road Safety team (Bucks County Council) is seeking support from members of the motor insurance industry to help raise the profile of a specially built young driver training course, known as Get in Gear. This is not Pass Plus, but an effective programme that really does reduce road collision risk among the young driver road user group.

Get in Gear needs the backing of motor insurance providers to help bring it to the attention of young drivers and to encourage more to come on board the scheme. Any insurance provider placing its trust in Get in Gear will have the opportunity to share in the success of the course by association and be given high-profile website advertising.

Interested parties should contact June Howlett of Transport for Buckinghamshire Road Safety (Bucks County Council) on 01296 382338 for further information.

Buckinghamshire County Council’s
Commitment to Improving Young Driver Safety

Statistically and traditionally, drivers between the ages of 17 and 24 are within a high–risk category of car users, but that is not always the fault of the young person. Very often, inadequate knowledge and training are strong contributory factors, as road collisions often happen when an ill–equipped driver is placed into a situation with which he or she cannot cope.

Historically, and in an effort to reduce local collision statistics, Transport for Buckinghamshire Road Safety (Bucks County Council) use to subsidise young people to complete a course under the DSA Pass Plus scheme. However, an evaluation of the results indicated Pass Plus has very little effect in reaching the Council’s objective concerning road casualty reduction.

It was also of concern the Pass Plus driving course does not have a pass or fail outcome and has no focus upon driver attitudes. Pass Plus is not target driven either as it is not attuned to County collected road collision data.

Recognising weaknesses in the current L–plate and Pass Plus driver training system, Transport for Buckinghamshire Road Safety (Bucks County Council) has taken on a proactive role by providing a higher grade driver training and education programme, specifically targeting road traffic collision statistics for young and inexperienced driver incidents within the County.

Get in Gear Provides Targeted Training

In 2008, the Transport for Buckinghamshire Road Safety team (Bucks County Council) took proactive measures to address the issue of serious injury and fatal road collisions among the young driver group. The outcome was a driver training and education course named Get in Gear.

By tapping into the expertise of Ride Drive Limited, a Buckinghamshire based advanced driver training services provider, and Professor Rodney Freeman, then of Reading University, the structure of the Get in Gear driver training course was put into place.

Get in Gear has been designed to meet specific criteria, providing targeted training within high risk road environments according to county generated statistical information, as well as to address the issue of driver attitudes and behaviours.

Authenticity of the Course

Under the older subsidised Pass Plus funded programme any Buckinghamshire based Approved Driving Instructors (ADI’s) registered with the DSA as a Pass Plus provider could deliver the Bucks CC sponsored training. This proved difficult to manage, as it was not possible to monitor when and if students were receiving the training being paid for.

Conversely, Get in Gear has a more controlled structure and it can now be guaranteed that every student who is signed off as completing the course has actually received the training.

Another crucial attribute of this course is that of the stringent pass or fail outcome, as indeed there have been a number of students who have failed the course to date, mostly due to adverse attitude.

Get in Gear is currently being funded 100% by Transport for Buckinghamshire Road Safety Department (Bucks County Council), funding that is due to remain in place for the remainder of the 2010⁄2011 fiscal year. It also has the potential to run as a National driver training scheme and indeed there is interest being shown by other local authorities.

Get in Gear Course Modules

The Get in Gear driving course is delivered in the form of both theory content as well as practical driver training. In its present format, students complete a 2–hour group theory session followed by 4–hours or practical driver training, this section being divided into 2x2–hour modules.

Theory Session – Time allocated = 2–Hours

The theory session is very interactive and students frequently comment upon how refreshing is the style of delivery and much they enjoy it. There was always the specific intention the classroom session would not be conducted in a typical teacher to pupil manner, as young people find this most off–putting.

Practical Driver Training – Time allocated = 2x2–Hours

The two 2–hour practical driver training sessions take place over a rural route and then motorways and faster roads. The key skills developed are;

Motorways and Other Fast Roads (in addition to the above)

At all stages of practical training, ADI’s link the content of the theory session to the input given during practical driver training.

Quality of Training

Driver training under the name of Get in Gear is currently delivered by a team of 9 ADI’s who were carefully selected from a list of over ninety applicants. The selection process was made to be tough and this was the intention. The view point has been that of it not possible to develop high–quality young drivers unless training is delivered by high–quality trainers.

Each ADI forming part of the Get in Gear team has brought special qualities to the programme, and which has made them stand out above other driving instructors. These are people who are intelligent, innovative, creative, motivated and passionate about making a difference to young driver safety. They also each have a quality that is not often found within their profession, and that is the ability to think outside the institutional box.

In addition to their individual attributes, experience and training ethics, each Get in Gear trainer is undertaking a fully–funded accredited advanced driving course, which not only focuses on their own driving skills, but their instructional abilities too. As an additional element to their training each is also completing a car control course at a skid pan facility.

The investment into the development of the Get in Gear training team will continue to be made and the rewards are already being recognised by the standard of young drivers who have completed the course.

Other Background Information

Following training, dip checks are frequently made among the list of student names to learn of any incidents of note, and most importantly, of any road collisions. To date, and despite there being over 300 students who have received training under the Get in Gear programme, there have been no road reports collisions.

For the motor insurance provider, Get in Gear really does provide opportunities for greater recognition and enhancement of company image. The point cannot be emphasised strongly enough that Get in Gear is not a standard driver training programme and therefore any young person being awarded a course pass certificate will represent a low level of insurance liability risk.

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	Looking for Pass Plus Lessons in Marlow of Bourne End? – Try Get in Gear driver training instead. The advanced driving course for young drivers, improving road safety and young driver education. A Bucks County Council Road Safety Initiative. Available throughout Buckinghamshire.

Driver Training with Get in Gear is available to 17 –24–year olds, who have passed their test within the past 12–months, over the following areas of Bucks.

Amersham – Aston Clinton – Aylesbury – Beaconsfield – Bledlow – Bletchley – Bourne End – Burnham – Buckingham – Chalfont St. Giles – Chalfont St. Peter – Cheddington – Chesham – Grendon Underwood – Denham – Edlesborough – Gerrards Cross – Great Missenden – Haddenham – High Wycombe – Ivinghoe – Little Chalfont – Long Crendon – Marlow – Monks Risborough – Pitstone – Princes Risborough – Saunderton – Stokenchurch – Stony Stratford – Waddesdon – Wendover – Whitchurch – Wing – Winslow – Wooburn Green.

This page was last updated
Sunday, 30-Jan-2011

A Message to all Motor Insurance Providers