In years gone by there were no votes to speak of in Road Safety much the same as Eco friendly and Green activities were regarded as the prerogative of rather strange people who lived rather strange lives. The proposed Nuclear Plant in the South East of Ireland got a final knock on the head when enough people created enough noise. The horrific catastrophe of Chernobyl should be sufficient to wake people up to the fact that without adequate safety measures in any sphere then people get killed until something is done about it.
An improvement in the road fatalities in Ireland will take some while to be evident and will come as a result of tackling the root cause and not by shortening the waiting list for the Irish Driving Test with short term measures. If drivers are taught to drive properly, with advanced and Eco techniques the norm, as opposed to a rarity, then the number of Test candidates passing the Irish Driving Test first time could increase and this alone will reduce the lengthy waiting list.
With the onset of climate change now quite obvious to those of us who do not live underground and an acknowledgement that everyone can play a part in improving the situation, Eco friendly cars and driving techniques will be very much to the fore over the coming years. Driving Schools should be teaching Eco friendly driving Techniques as a matter of course and not just focussing on getting young drivers just through the Driving Test system. Young Learner Drivers have been brainwashed into thinking that passing the Driving Test is the pinnacle of achievement in driving skills whereas in fact it is only the second rung of the ladder.
It has been planned to introduce an element of Eco Driving Techniques to the U.K driving Test in 2007 and presumably this will catch on here in Ireland in a couple of years. In the meantime those Driving Schools and Instructors who have not been teaching these techniques up to this point need to sharpen up their act, provide eco driving techniques and skills for life as opposed to just teaching pupils to pass the Irish Driving Test.
Remember Passing the Irish Driving Test shows that you were able to put it all together on the day. It does not mean that you are either a skilled, experienced or even a safe Driver. If you have not been taught by an experienced professional you will be lacking in a number of key areas that can and will kill you.
A good starting point for a Learner Driver would be to get to know the car that you are driving …how it works; why it won’t work and what to do when it decides to take a lunch break when you are heading for the airport or that all important Career Interview. Are you training to become a mechanic? No of course not…(well you could be on second thoughts) but having a grasp of some basics will help you deal with a mechanic when the time comes. Some of the best pupils we have come across over the years are those training in auto engineering or engineering in general.
It would be a good start also for all Instructors to carry a set of magnetic L Plates with them since so many Learner Drivers arrive for their first pre test lessons with no plates in view and a litany of excuses. If it wasn’t so difficult to replace a Pupil at short notice (in fact it is impossible) I would just tell a pupil who arrived without L Plates to go find another Instructor.
