Is the answer to improving road safety among young drivers in how we teach them?

Around the world, 1.35 million lives are lost to road accidents every year. This costs the global economy more than US$ 518 billion.

In South Africa, the trajectory of road crashes has continually been on the upward trend for a number of years. Between 1990 and 2017, the total number of road fatalities increased by 26%. ?Significantly, the ratio of male to female fatalities is 3:1 within the age groups of 15 – 49.

This paints a concerning picture about the scale of the road safety challenges we face in our country. That’s not to say improved road safety is impossible; but consistent efforts are needed, and the responsibility falls upon us all to make the difference.

What is driving high accident rates in South Africa?

• In general, leading causes of road accidents in South Africa are:Distractions – one of the biggest culprits is use of cell phones while driving. Texting – even if only for a few seconds – can increase the likelihood of having an accident by up to 23%.
• Drunk driving – In South Africa, this contributes to one of the worst road accident fatality rates globally. South Africa’s death rate due to drunk driving is estimated at about 43 people for every 100 000.
• Speeding and reckless driving – speeding has been shown to reduce a driver’s reaction time to a hazard that is encountered. Reaction times may thus be slower than necessary to avoid an accident. Speeding can also lead to the loss of control of a vehicle, resulting in an accident.

Other key causes include j-walking, vehicle faults (i.e. poorly maintained vehicles), weather-related incidents and poor road conditions, like potholes and loose or uneven road surfaces, which are a major contributor to accident rates.

Leading causes of accidents among young drivers

Young, unlicensed drivers (i.e. teens between the ages of 16 and 19) are four times more likely to have an accident than more experienced drivers . These drivers are also up to 20 times more likely to cause an accident as a result of speeding or drunk driving.

Other common culprits among young drivers include texting or using social media apps while driving, a lack of experience when dealing with difficult driving conditions (poor road surfaces or inclement weather), or failure to use safety restraints / seat belts.

Young or new drivers, in particular are:

• More likely to underestimate hazardous situations and oftentimes react inappropriately (e.g. experiencing tyre failure, sudden flooding or stormy weather, driving over mountain passes or exposure to criminal activity)
• More likely to make illegal turns, run a red traffic light or stop sign, fail to adjust speeds appropriately, cut in and out of traffic, fail to maintain safe following distances, perform dangerous manoeuvres and drive more at night
• ?8-times more likely to experience a road accident within their first 6 months of solo driving (teenagers are 2-3 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash)

While we have a formalised syllabus of driver education that adequately covers both theoretical and practical learning in order to attain a license; these assessments are somewhat limited when it comes to standardised defensive driving skills and real-life practical abilities outside of driving yards (e.g. freeway driving or testing on a route that hasn’t been previously practised on).

Practical education needs to extend beyond what is comprehensively offered in the K53 material. Government does acknowledge this and has announced plans ?to incorporate driving simulators as part of the testing procedures going forward. New drivers need to be able to do more than simply pass their K53 tests in order to use our roads safely. Driver awareness, being able to think defensively, develop anticipation skills or handle emergency situations well are all part of experience that is lacking, and that which contributes to such high accident rates.

How the Discovery Driving Academy can help

The Discovery Driving Academy offers new drivers a safe and controlled environment in which to practice their skills while learning how to navigate numerous driving scenarios. Driving simulators are increasingly being used for training at driving schools and fleet driving training facilities all around the world. They can be used as an excellent practical and educational tool for the learning of safe driving techniques, with versions for cars, trucks and even buses.

Some advantages include:

• Simulators place a driver in a life-like set up that mimics’ scenarios such as traffic, weather conditions and even a road layout. This can be manipulated both in real-time and offline for teaching purposes. Scenario simulations are purpose-developed to ensure that everything “surrounding” a learner driver is responsive to their chosen behaviour in the moment. Learner drivers can practice a variety of different manoeuvres in different “physical circumstances” and under different conditions.
• Simulators can measure performance accurately – Simulators can help provide a driver with information such as accurate distance information. For example, a learner driver can learn how to judge distance between their vehicle and a stop line on a road. With such efficiency, learner drivers can better practice reading a situation and improve on the correct responses while driving.
• Simulators allow drivers to learn how to face potentially dangerous situations, without being physically at risk – Handling a variety of safety-critical tasks as a new or inexperienced driver isn’t always appropriate to practice on the road without potentially causing an accident themselves. Simulators help learning drivers’ study ‘hazard anticipation’ – such as how to avoid a potential collision or the risky driving of another road user. Mistakes may be made while learning, and so this is best learned off the road and safely inside a simulator, which significantly reduces their crash experience risk.
• Simulators are a fantastic teaching tool – Instructors are trained to operate these machines; and can pause, reset, or even replay a scenario to a learning driver to better explain something or provide instructions at a pace that is easier to process and practice. This is an effective way to learn from and correct mistakes that are inevitably part of the process. Using verbal instruction and visual overlays can be incredibly beneficial for the learning process.

The Discovery Driving Academy has three state-of-the-art driving simulators for learner drivers to make use of – and not just those new to driving; experienced drivers can make use of these to sharpen their driving skills too. The simulators are designed to mimic a real car and are kitted out with all the control mechanisms you need to drive – an accelerator, brakes, clutch, gearbox, indicators and windscreen wipers.

Conclusion

The Discovery Driving Academy is an innovative solution intended to help promote safer roads and fulfil our ambition to ‘create a nation of good drivers’. As a strong advocate of our core purpose of ‘enhancing and protecting people’s lives’ and as a father, initiatives like this give me – as I’m sure it would anyone –peace of mind knowing that our new drivers can learn to drive ?safely. As a business, we are proud to provide a means for new drivers to gain the confidence they need as they learn to drive – and drive well.

So, whether you’re just starting out or wish to improve your driving skills with a dedicated and professional instructor, you can book a course package here .???

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