Now that bought a few tuneful lines to mind, thanks Meja, but it seems that is the motivation behind everything, finance, chasing the dollar, pound, euro, of course we do not want to fall backwards into dependency and financial crutches drifting into depression and austerity measures determined by others, but for some reason the human side is missing from the research and reports that follow any investigation into road safety. Are you practicing your career as a driver educator to save lives, or to save public money, or just because it's what you do for a living?
Graduated driving licences, have a solid background in road safety, yet that isn't strictly speaking true, in Australia the system is under review and when you take into account that in Australia there are 2 people per square kilometre of land compared to the UK which has 256 people per square kilometre of land, you would expect these restrictions to have some impact. When an area is more densely populated GDL systems are less effective according to the EU. So could this extreme shake up which is going to cost the tax payer far more than they save be worth it.
Although the EU refer to the implementation of the GDE matrix in Norway it is also noted that the studies will not be conclusive for some time to come, if ever, as in an evolving world anything can change, this is clear when we have a quickly advancing introduction to the driverless car. Although post test training compulsory or otherwise is shown to have an influence on risky behaviour, there is scientific evidence to suggest that the maturing mind and storage of information in the brain would result in this outcome anyway, hence practice makes perfect.
Night time restriction is one of the more popular points amongst road safety professionals, but, this carries a risk in itself, GDL requires night time driver training to be part of the learning process, yet as time passes without practice this skill will diminish and in some be forgotten, if the novice new driver is to have the training and then be denied night time driving for a probationary period that skill will be lost.
As far as land mass goes, the UK has exceptional figures for road fatalities amongst the under 25's, being the 22nd largest population in the world we are clearly doing something right, whereas for a country like Australia that has been using the GDL system for sometime to revise the probationary period with a view to extending it, then that points to it being less effective than they had wished. With road fatalities falling across the world, this is more about economy than it is about education, particularly as in some of those countries you can buy a driving licence at the corner shop.
Public information films have a proven track record for being effective when tackling various behaviour, this applies to all EU countries, the young girl who was reconstructed after hitting a tree is one that many people remember and had a very positive effect on speed in built up areas for sometime, however the generation now to be guided with good education are of an age that hasn't seen this. Advertising is expensive, and a hearty campaign would be likely to see the cost exceed the saving, which again begs the question is this about the preservation of life, or money.
The root of the problem frequently sees a finger pointed towards the trainer, and in countries outside of the EU that have effective train the trainer courses in place, road death and education has improved. So are we starting at the bottom and working up or should we be at the top working down. The test for all new drivers is the ultimate point, where they are then able to have an easier life in terms of mobility, the UK driving test was deemed fit for purpose by the EURSC and covers more bases in the time frame than many other countries, with Sweden having a similar testing process. With these two countries always vying for top spot in the road safety charts then surely we should be looking to other countries to find what element there system presents. Interestingly if we were outside of the EU looking in, we would still be doing well, research says figures would continue to fall as the UK becomes more heavily populated and road space a greater premium. So are we taking part in a compulsory task or is it a necessary one.
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