TAFE NSW – Western Sydney Institute has been working with the NRMA to improve younger driver training and safety by delivering the TAFE PLUS course, Certificate IV in Driving Instruction.
The training coincides with the launch of the NRMA Motoring & Services new Safer Driving Schools franchises which are being rolled out across the country, with 40 earmarked to open in NSW and the ACT by December. An expected 70 potential driving instructors will take the TAFE PLUS course by June next year.
The NRMA driving instruction schools have been created in response to alarming road trauma statistics for young people, the majority of new drivers on Australian roads. Teenagers represent 85 percent of the learner-driver market.
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Mustafa Marsap, Franchise Sales Manager, NRMA Safer Driving Schools program, said young people represent 16 per cent of licence holders in NSW and a staggering 30 per cent of all road traumas. ‘The group is extremely over represented.’
Mr Marsap said participants felt the course was fantastic. ‘They said it was really tough and intensive which is exactly what we want.’
Ian Crowther heads the Central Coast franchise and employs two instructors. He said he found the course invaluable for the background it provided about the driving industry.
‘I'm interested in the field of driver training and all things motoring,’ he said. ‘It's also a good thing to work with young people to improve their skills. The course was clever in the way it was structured with a mix of theory and practical units.’
Mr Marsap believes the new NRMA driving schools offer something very different to others already in existence. ‘We focus solely on safe driving skills in all conditions on all types of roads,’ he said. This differs from the traditional method which is based on teaching new drivers on pre-determined routes. ‘We focus on low risk driving and hazard perception, and are literally teaching people how to drive, not how to get a licence,’ he said.
Roslyn McKinven, Industry Officer for General Education and Transport, Western Sydney Institute, ran the first five-day course in September at Blacktown College. She said another was offered in November and many more next year.
