School best for driving

AUTHOR Malcolm Gladwell sold a lot of books based on the principle that people needed about 10,000 hours of practice to truly master a skill.

When it comes to driving a car, in Victoria learners only need to prove they have had 120 hours behind the wheel before they are able to test for their licence.

The rule was introduced to ensure young drivers had experienced a range of supervised driving sessions before being hitting the road on their own. Research has indicated that inexperience is the most significant factor leading to crashes among young drivers and that those who had completed 120 hours behind the wheel as learners had a 30 per cent lower risk of having a road accident as those with only 50 hours.

The 120-hour rule is not without its faults though. The logbook honesty system has been rorted by drivers and their parents who have falsified entries without doing the hours, while in some instances 120 hours under the wrong kind of supervision can be as dangerous as very little experience at all.

These issues are all too familiar to Geelong driving educator Craig Waters who credits the disconnect between what drivers are being taught and how they behave behind the wheel with a high number of serious crashes on local roads.

Mr Waters says ineffective driver education can lead to death and believes road education should be treated in the same way as every other subject — at school.

He has been involved in a statewide pilot program to teach comprehensive road safety to year 10 students during school hours. The lessons would include a mix of theory and practical lessons to ensure students are being taught the right things from a young age — and before they actually take to the road.

It is a commonsense solution to a problem that affects the entire community. Most teens are going to grow up to drive a car, why not make it mandatory for them to learn from trained educators? Especially when the stakes are so high.