Driver Training - for the everyday driver

1 December 2017

Getting their driver’s licence is the last driver training most people do.

However, many companies employing professional drivers, or with staff who drive as part of their jobs, know the huge value of ongoing driver training. Sending staff on an approved LTSA driving course supports employers with their responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act of April 2016.

Increasing traffic volumes and long hours behind the wheel mean that accidents are a real risk for sales reps and company drivers. Advanced safety technologies designed to reduce the risk of accidents by maximising the range of conditions in which a vehicle can be safely operated, can help towards decreasing the severity of accident, but these technologies perform at their best when paired with safe driving practices and good decision-making. It is important to note here that understanding how these safety features are correctly operated is essential to safe driving. A car with ABS brakes, for instance, is driven in a completely different manner to one without this safety feature.

Research has shown that those who have undergone driver training courses, not only have fewer accidents, but any that do occur are likely to be little more than small reversing nudges which cost their companies virtually nothing. Non-trained drivers are not only involved in a greater number of collisions, but the damage to their vehicles is much more costly, not to mention the injury to themselves and their passengers.

Tracktime Driving Academy Level 1 Driver Training is a one day LTSA approved course which delivers high quality driver training to ensure the safe operation of motor vehicles by drivers who use cars as part of their daily work.

This course is the ultimate practical driving course for improving confidence, driver judgement and skill, teaching safe-driving practices and good decision-making to assist drivers in recognising potential hazards and avoiding those risks from the outset.

Drivers learn to appreciate and understand the limits of technology whilst acquiring good defensive driving skills. During the day, drivers learn the laws of driving dynamics and undergo a series of exercises in training which in turn help them to really understand and appreciate the actual situations they will experience on the road.

Key elements of the course include:

• A background theory of the course;
  
  
• The correct seat and steering wheel position to drive a modern vehicle safely;
  
  
• Modern cars’ active safety features i.e. air bags, safety belts & car structure;
  
  
• ABS braking and Emergency stopping - procedures, correct throttle and speed control, plus the physics of how to stop a vehicle moving at varying speeds;
  
  
• Emergency braking with a lane change, plus scanning and searching techniques to avoid oncoming obstacles;
  
  
• Vehicle maintenance –the importance of it & overview of the basics; 
  
  
• Slalom parcours –designed to teach throttle control, spatial awareness, steering techniques and scanning;
  
  
• Corner lines and open road driving – slow laps of the race track behind a pace car to simulate open road driving and how to read corners;
  
  
• Interactive feedback and a full competency assessment, an overview of the day with a discussion of the Road Code;

Anyone who drives a vehicle, has a full NZ Drivers Licence and is interested in learning improved road safety and driving skills, would benefit from this course.