Chapter 29 - Driver Education and Training

Abstract

Different countermeasures have been created to reduce the number of fatalities as well as serious injuries and crashes with only material damage. The main message throughout this chapter is that driving skill may be conceptualized as a broad set of skills that are used according to drivers' goals and motives, and from this arises a need for versatile use of pedagogic methods. No single theory or method can be expected to cover all levels of the hierarchy of driving behavior. The goals of education and training, and the level that is being focused on should determine the optimal learning method. The key to the higher levels in the hierarchy and to an increase in self-evaluative skills lies in the activity of the learner him- or herself. The recent trends in pedagogic theories emphasize a constructivistic approach to learning, problem-based learning, and experiential learning; that is, learning evolves through the learner's own activity, making active use of personal experiences. Fairly simple training methods, traditional lecturing, repetition, and memorizing probably produce good results for the lower levels of the framework. However, these methods can be improved by good feedback, such as connecting a certain traffic rule to the wider context by discussing its role for safety.