“Driver training focused on vehicle handling skills can make drivers more efficient at vehicle handling; however this does not necessarily make them safer since they may become over-confident,” the research paper stated.

A positive finding did result however… Paper author, Dr Vanessa Beanland, said that professional driving lessons and resilience training (i.e. attitudes to risky behaviour such as alcohol and drug use) were found to improve road safety.

The research also found that learner drivers were less likely to crash when supervised by a professional, rather than a relative or friend.

“Crashes do occur during professional lessons, however, they are less serious, most are low-speed crashes in urban areas, such as rear-end collisions, whereas during lay supervision high speed crashes in rural areas are more common,” the paper said.

Northside Driver Training thinks that learner drivers perhaps feel less nervous around a professional, unbiased instructor, who is not ever going to yell, swear, or worry over rookie mistakes.

While parents may think teaching their son or daughter to drive “saves money”, when they consider that $600 is the average insurance excess for motor vehicle damage by a driver under 24, and that the chance of accident rises with nervousness, then the price of a few lessons is minor in comparison. North Brisbane Driving Lessons start from just $60 each, or less for multiple lessons.

Source: BrisbaneTimes Driving News, April 2012.

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