Hi Sedgwick, welcome to the debating chamber
Triples wrote:The answer to this (at least in my possibly deranged mind) is to incorporate some of the key elements of what is popularly taken to be advanced driving into the DSA syllabus.
....and when I say 'key elements' I don't mean excessively whittling on about the holding and handling of the steering wheel.
When I was an ADI, I was in the fortunate position later on that I had a full-time job and did Learners as a hobby (still charging the proper rate). I used to include quite a few "advanced" techniques as I tried to teach driving as a life skill, not just to pass the DSA test. This included spending time developing hazard perception, considering vehicle position beyond what the DSA expects, mechanical sympathy, basic maintainance tasks, why it was better to reverse into parking bays etc.
I think the DSA proposals may show an acceptance by them that the day-to-day driving activities are not adequately assessed and that new drivers are not as well equipped as they should be to cope on thier own. It is mainly in the areas of behavour and responsibility that the biggest advances could be made. Just witness how many drivers do not seem to engage in the driving task. Why, because they do not realise the risks they are taking. They think that control of the vehicle was something they had to do for the DSA test, and now doesn't matter as much as other tasks (using the phone, getting to their appontment on time, for example).
I think that more effort has to be made into getting drivers educational standards raised so they are aware of the demands placed on them and the consequences of failing to continuously and consistently apply those standards. This might mean teaching them some of the skills at an earlier age and in different ways to at present.
Longer assessments and repeated assessments would be good too. How many older drivers know how to use ABS effectively? How many know how Stability control or traction control works and what it means if they cause it to cut in? Lots of useful technology has been introduced as our vehicles have been upgraded, unfortunately, they are still controlled by a human brain which may or may not be aware of what is needed....
Think what has happened to computers. Imaging trying to use the internet, control media and imaging with only DOS? Or imaging how a computer user from the 70's or 80's would cope with a moderen PC if they had not been given training or bothered to read the manuals.....