AfroSAFE webinar September 2024
Rethinking how driver training can contribute to safer road traffic
Road crashes are related to different factors, which can be divided into individual, social, structural and technical factors. Studies have found that experience is linked to a lower risk of crashes. Although, the same cannot be said about the link between driver training and crash risk. Given this some would argue that the focus should be on other aspects known to reduce crashes, such as: enforcement, safer vehicles and safer infrastructure. However, instead of ruling out driver training we need to look at the reasons for the lack of effect.
At least three different reasons can help in explaining the lack of effect. The first one that the content of some training programmes can be counterproductive for road safety. The second that very few studies have been rigorously evaluated. The third reason is that a large number of studies were conducted 20 years or more ago. This can surely be considered as a strong reason for the poor effect since driver training used to focus very much on so called “lower order skills”, i.e., how to handle the car. In 1999 the “GDE framework” (Goals for Driver Education) was first developed. According to the framework the training should cover a number of skills. The highest level, “Goals for life and skills for living” is often neglected but very important. It emphasizes that the decisions we make and the motivation that governs our choices are largely a result of the personal circumstances we carry with us into the role as road users.
Teaching according to the GDE framework requires new teaching methods. In this lecture I outline how “higher order skills” can become part of driver training.
About the speaker
Sonja Forward is a psychologist and research director at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute. Since 1992, she has led numerous national and international projects, gaining developing extensive knowledge in the areas of sustainable travel and road safety. Her research primarily has largely focused on the mechanisms that affect behavior and how it can be influenced by behavioral change measures.
