Differences between formal and informal practical driver training as experienced by the learners themselves

Abstract

The safety effect of driver training is widely discussed in the research literature. The paper focuses on practical driver training before licensing for drivers of passenger cars. The amount and content of lay instructor and professional driver training as perceived and reported by the learners themselves are examined and compared. This includes how various educational elements are emphasised. It is also examined how these differences contribute to variance in safety-relevant variables as self-assessment of driving skills, safety attitudes and risk behaviour. The results are based on a self-completion questionnaire survey conducted among a randomly drawn sample of Norwegian drivers aged 18–20 years (n = 1419). The respondents perceived professional instructors to place different emphasis on educational elements compared to lay instructors. Another finding was that the examined didactic properties of the practical driver training are associated mainly with developing driving skills (measured as self-assessed skills) rather than safety attitudes and risk behaviour. The study indicates that lay instruction depends on a ‘safety margin strategy’, resulting in avoidance of the most challenging aspects of training. Regression analyses showed that the educational aspects of greatest importance to self-assessed skills were the learner characteristics and the amount of lay instruction, as well as the lay instructors’ emphasis of the educational elements, clarity in communication about risk and formative evaluations as perceived by the learners. The conclusion is that the two forms of instruction should complement each other. In particular, the more demanding aspects of driving must be dealt with through professional driver training while a high amount of informal accompanied driving contributes significant to development of driving skills measured as self-assessment of driving skills.