I Wish I Had This When I Was Young…

Automologist ATHERTON heard about this little driving programme in the UK and thinks it’s good for every driver…and the planet too. 

I bet that many of us when we were kids would have wondered what it was like driving a car. There is the element of surprise, of wonder and of excitement when driving a car for the first time. Nowadays, autonomous driving is the byword for future mobility and kids might not know that cars were once driven by people. That future is not yet here, though.

Meanwhile, inexperienced drivers are manoeuvring a 1.5- to 2-tonne machines that, if not handled well, could cause serious injury or even death to themselves and others. But on the bright side, the world has more safe drivers than erratic ones. And to make it even safer, kids as young as 5 years of age to 17 are taught the proper basics at the Young Driver Academy. Their team of instructors have guided more than 750,000 young people to enjoy the world of driving, thus making Young Driver the biggest under-17 driving school in the UK.

They have partnered with Vauxhall and the lessons take place on private property where the rules are more flexible than on the road. In the extended period of time and learning the basic skills in a low-pressure environment make better and safer drivers.

Students are placed in real, dual control cars and, of course, the instructors are approved by the government. These youngsters are taught about greener driving—light touch on the throttle and brakes, anticipation to avoid wasting energy and switching the engine off whenever possible. Not only that, as a CSR initiative, but the Young Driver Academy has also pledged to plant 1.000 trees each year to minimise our carbon footprint.

This is a very good initiative that transport ministries and the relevant driving academies around the world may want to include in their current system. Not only are we helping to create better and safer drivers but we are helping the planet one step at a time.

FUN FACT: The Young Drivers HQ is in Warwickshire…the birthplace of William Shakespeare (now, doesn’t it say something about where great skills begin?)