RoSPA Young Drivers at Work Report

Chapter 3
What do employers think of the current system of
training and testing?
The research was undertaken to investigate the views of
employers and managers of young drivers on how well the
present system of driver training and testing prepares
young people to drive for work. Respondents were invited
to rate the current system, to identify areas of inadequacy
and to suggest improvements.
3.1 Are young drivers prepared for
at-work driving?
The questionnaire included a section headed,‘Current
learner driver training and testing’, and was introduced by
the statement:“This section seeks your views on learner
driver training and the driving test, and how it prepares
young drivers for work-related driving”. The questions in
the section explicitly asked about the driving test. The first
question (Q2.1) asked:‘How adequately do you feel the
current driving test prepares young drivers for driving
for work?’
Chart 2 shows that in total, 134 respondents (33%) replied
that the driving test either quite adequately or completely
adequately prepared young drivers for driving for work.
239 respondents (59%) replied that the driving test did not
very adequately or not at all adequately prepare young
drivers for driving for work.
Chart 2: The adequacy of the current test at preparing
young drivers for at-work driving (N = 407).
Number of responses
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Completely
adequately
Quite
adequately
Not very
adequately
Not at all
adequately
Nonresponse
These findings were almost identical between private
and public sector organisations, and between different
size organisations.
Table 1: Adequacy of the current test at preparing young
drivers for at-work driving, shown by organisation
size (N = 399).
Small Medium Large Total
Completely 5 5 15 25
Quite 32 26 51 109
Not very 45 31 85 161
Not at all 22 10 46 78
Non-response 5 5 16 26
Total 109 77 213 399
(Organisation size unknown not included)
Only 6% of respondents in organisations of all sizes felt
that the test completely prepared young drivers for driving
at work. However, organisations with 50-249 employees
were slightly more positive towards the test’s effectiveness.
Interview findings
In the semi-structured interviews, respondents were first
asked about the type of driving their young people were
doing. Respondents were then asked:
(Q3) ‘How adequate do you feel the current system of
driver training and testing is in preparing young
people for this type of driving work?’
Responses to this question could be collated into three
distinct groups:
1. Those who thought the driving test was ‘adequate’ in
preparing young drivers for at-work driving
2. Those who felt it was ‘nearly adequate’
3. Those who felt it was ‘not adequate’.
Adequate
Of the 47 telephone interviews only one respondent (2%)
replied that they felt the current system was adequate
without exception:
“I think it’s perfectly adequate for our purposes.
It’s a lot more rigorous than when I did mine. ”
(Health and Safety Manager, public body)
Young Drivers at Work Report
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