The Australian Education Reporter
World first driver training
THIS year at The Education Show, MYDRIVESCHOOL® will be officially launched – the world’s first simulation game to teach people how to drive online. MYDRIVESCHOOL® is designed to bridge the gap between theory and practical driver training.
The program promises to reduce anxiety for parents, OHS risks for instructors, and give everyone more confidence handing over the keys for the first time.
Globally road trauma is the leading cause of death of people aged between 15 – 29yo (ref: WHO).
In Australia fatality rates have declined marginally year on year, however serious injury rates have escalated disproportionately.
Over the last 50 years every aspect of road safety (roads, legislation, vehicle safety and medical intervention) has been improved except for the way we teach people how to drive. Statistically over 80 per cent of road trauma is caused by ‘driver error’.
In development for over 6 years, the company founder – Lisa Skaife – has used industry experts in a variety of fields including driver training, simulation, education, gaming and road safety to design a game that the Pre-learners (15-16yo) will want to use.
The program has been tested by more than 150 students with 98 per cent saying it was the ‘safest way to learn basic skills before getting into a car’.
Sadly in 2016, 264 people aged between 17-25yo died on the road and 23 people drowned, and in primary schools we have five years of swimming training, however we have NO mandatory driver training in secondary schools.
It’s a life skill that over 94 per cent of students will require, usually on a daily basis, yet not enough appropriate training is provided.
The MYDRIVESCHOOL® program has graduated pass/fail modules, increasing in difficulty to improve cognitive/in-cabin skills of students.
In response to comments about the curriculum is already being too full, Founder Lisa Skaife says “The Stage 1 program takes between 45mins – 1 hour to complete, to prepare them for one of the most dangerous periods of their life”.
And for roughly the same cost of a driving lesson, students can use the program for a full year, and receive a MYDRIVESCHOOL® certificate to prove they can at least steer, brake, turn and understand intersections!
Advice from experienced educators states that teenagers need to be allowed to make mistakes, and learn from them independently. This is the basis for the whole MYDRIVESCHOOL® training regime – to allow users to make their mistakes in a safe and controlled environment.
Also, as an exclusive at The Education Show, the MYDRIVESCHOOL® team plan to do some BETA testing for their next new ‘Distraction Management Module’ which aims to prove to teenagers (and anyone else) that texting whilst driving is impossible, no matter what your skill or experience level.
The game takes users through a serious of exercises, asking them to complete whilst texting, and compare the difference.
We look forward to seeing the programs, and having our guests see this world’s first innovation in action at The Education Show. Check them out at site A15.