RoSPA Young Drivers at Work Report

Chapter 7
Focus group responses
Type of at-work driving
Respondents were asked about the types of vehicle they
were called upon to drive in a work situation and the sort
of conditions under which they drove them.
Vehicles reportedly driven
● Transit vans and converted transit vans
●
Minibus
“R1:We do a lot of work around towns so it’s quiet
country lanes as well as motorway driving and city
driving. ”
“R2:We drive everywhere; we could pull a job in any
area to be fair. ”
“R1: Sometimes it’s quite horrendous traffic. ”
(Focus group 2 members)
“R1: I got used to driving vans pretty quick, it’s
just obviously having no rear view mirror but
we’ve got reversing sensors, I’d be lost without my
reversing sensors. ”
●
●
●
Estate car
Works car
Own car
“Interviewer:Were you given an introduction to
using the sensors? ”
“R1: No, they just came with the van. ”
(Focus group 2 member)
Conditions driven in
● Driving during 12 hour shifts
● Site limited driving, 15-20 mph speed limit
● Driving up to 300 miles per day
● Rural locations
● Motorway driving
● Town driving
● Long journeys with overnight stops
● On-call 24 hour shifts
Reasons for journeys
● Emergency response
● Transportation of passengers
● Collection and delivery of parts
● Moving between multiple job sites
“I’m 22 now, when I passed my test at 17 the first
thing I drove was a works van so for me I’ve
driven vans since I was 17, so I don’t have a
problem with it. ”
(Focus group 1 member)
“R1: I know it’s part of your job but driving feels like
a waste of time, you’d rather be doing the job so
when you are driving it feels like a waste of time.
Although you’re doing it as part of your job,
you’ve got to get to places, you’re not actually
achieving anything. ”
“R2:The other thing is, because of driving in an area
that we’re not really familiar with, it’s a lot harder,
you drive in Birmingham when you’re used to
driving in Stafford. It’s a lot different, getting in the
correct lane and stuff, it’s a lot different driving in
the City. ”
(Focus group 1 members)
What more would you like to have been taught?
Focus group members were asked what they would have
liked to have been included in their learning to drive
training, in order to prepare them for driving for work.
Respondents identified specific driving skills, the range of
driving conditions and also discussed driver attitude:
Young Drivers at Work Report
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