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Learner Driver Challenges Revealed


Learner Driver Challenges Revealed

Author: NRMA Motoring & ServicesDate: 13 July 2009

An NRMA Safer Driving School survey of more than 700 learner drivers and instructors across NSW has revealed that learner drivers are over-confident and less skilled than they believe they are.
Participants were asked to nominate what skills they believed they needed training in. According to instructors, more than half of students needed specific training on checking for blind spots, reverse parking, roundabout rules and merging into traffic.

Learner drivers' opinions differed considerably with many believing they were competent with most driving skills. Reverse parking was the only skill that both learner drivers and instructors rated similarly in terms of competence.

Almost two in three female learners said they found reverse parking the toughest skill to learn while half of male learner drivers also had difficulty with reverse parking. These results were consistent with instructor responses.

However, learner drivers' over-confidence in their driving ability was no more evident than when it came to speeding.

Instructors said 43 per cent of students actually had difficulty keeping to the speed limit. By contrast, only 14 per cent of students believed they needed more training in observing speed limits.

NRMA Motoring & Services President Wendy Machin said speeding was a problem among young male drivers. Speeding is one of the main causes of crashes across all age groups.

"The NRMA Safer Driving School survey reveals that only 18 per cent of young men identified that they needed more training to observe the speed limit," Ms Machin said.

"What's troubling is that more than 80 per cent of male learners don't think they have issues controlling their speed, while statistics show that young males are at high risk of being involved in a speed-related crash."

In addition to learning specific driving skills, students nominated building confidence, completing 120 hours in their log book, learning road rules, coordination and concentration while driving as some of the most challenging aspects of learning to drive.

Contact: Kimberly Rigby 0439 133 215

Survey Data PDF (153KB/1 page)

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