RoSPA Young Drivers at Work Report

Chapter 8
For young people driving for work; operating vans, trucks,
tractors and other vehicles larger than a car forms one
prime area beyond the level of the L test:
“The licence they are given after having taken out
that car test is suitable if memory serves me
correctly up to and including 7 tonnes. So you
move them from a car which has got an interior
rear view mirror into a 3.5 tonne transit or
Mercedes Sprinter type van that’s only got wing
mirrors. A whole new set of driving skills required...
After recently conducting an in-house assessment
I have to say that yes the basic driving skills were
there but just the simple thing of how to control
a larger weight vehicle re: excessive use of the
gear box and clutch rather than the balance
between using the brakes and loop gear changes
to control the speed of the vehicle in a speed
restricted area. ”
(Training officer, telephone interviewee)
Without further training or guidance, young drivers discover
for themselves the differences between their first cars and
the vehicles of their employers; usually doing so on the job
and on the road, with all the risks that this involves.
One agricultural employer in our sample reported a 40%
failure rate in their internal assessments of new drivers. In
this case, those drivers who failed were given training and
re-assessments until the company was confident that they
were safe independent drivers. The new employees were
not expected to just ‘get on with it’.
This company was a very large and very well resourced
employer, although the size of an organisation did not
necessarily equate with a strong driving for work policy:
“My wife works for another big Y company and
they don’t have any type of safe fleet at all, they
don’t have anything in place to look after the
employees before they go out onto the road
driving. They’re given the keys to a fast GTi car and
they’re told to off they go, have fun. ”
(Senior Team Leader, telephone interviewee)
The active recognition by employers of driving skill shortages
appears a recent phenomenon. Respondents were either in
the process of sourcing training and assessments for their
drivers, or they were within the first few years of rolling it
out. The changes were reported to be a consequence of
two factors: a previously high accident rate, and/or the
Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007:
“What company X does is quite good because they
don’t let you drive a van until you’ve taken their
approved course, so it’s not like they let you drive
and learn from your mistakes and realise what
you’ve done wrong. ”
(Focus group 1 member)
The view of employer respondents was that post-test
training should comprise two elements:
●
●
Technical skills which includes, for example:
towing, securing loads, and understanding basic
mechanical function.
Driver attitude which centres on awareness of, and
courtesy to, other road users, and an awareness of the
potential consequences of own actions:
“Driving is not merely about the mechanics of
driving. In my view it’s very much about behaviour,
it’s very much about awareness of the immediate
environment, and it’s very much about knowledge
of defensive driving and what is hazard awareness
and how to cope with that. They are the primary
factors, secondary factors include an understanding
of in-car technology and of course the natural
skills particularly when it relates to things like
physics and by that I mean not to brake on a bend
and what are the consequences of doing so. There
is a whole range but for me behaviour, attitude,
environmental awareness are more important
than physical driving. ”
(Local Authority Manager, telephone interviewee)
“They [young drivers] just have this attitude of it’s
never ever going to happen to them, they’re in a
big metal box and they’re safe. ”
(Health and Safety Manager, telephone interviewee)
“Everybody should be made aware of what the
responsibilities are when they get a driving licence.
I don’t think they get taught that when they’re
driving. Once you lift the keys to a car and get in a
car you’ve got a responsibility then; you have a
duty of care to everybody else you’re going to pass
on the road and then you’ve got a duty of care to
every pedestrian that might walk in front of you.
It’s not just a matter of staying compliant by
having a driving licence and an insurance policy.
There needs to be a stronger emphasis on the
responsibility side of things. ”
(Fleet Director, telephone interviewee)
Young Drivers at Work Report
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