With the Easter break historically one of the busiest on our roads, Nine.com.au and Drive today launched a month-long campaign to raise awareness of the importance of defensive driver training courses.
Too many young drivers are killed or injured on our roads each year. Younger drivers are the most overrepresented group in this tragic statistic, with 20 per cent of all driver fatalities in the past five years aged between 17-25 years (source Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics Jan-19 to Jan-24).
Drive and Nine.com.au believe that being a better-trained driver makes you a safer driver, and have launched ‘P-Plate Drive Safe’ with this as the end goal.
The four-week campaign is about raising awareness for further training for our young drivers, sharing stories of those who have been impacted by road tragedy, and encouraging all drivers to take action.
Nationally available Defensive Driver courses are designed to improve the driving knowledge and hands-on skills of all drivers, however awareness is low amongst the community of their presence, benefits and how easy it is to access them. ‘P-Plate Drive Safe’ aims to change that.
“The best way to build safer driving behaviours is to influence drivers at a young age, before bad habits set in. There are many young drivers on the roads who may have been taught by parents and adults with old or outdated driving techniques. Defensive driving courses provide the most up-to-date training to better prepare young drivers on today’s roads,” said Kevin Flynn, master trainer at Driver Dynamics.
“Inexperienced young drivers involved in road trauma events have such a lifelong impact on too many Australian families, including my own. At Drive, we want more young drivers and their parents to have access to these potentially lifesaving resources, which we know can make a difference. Money and location should not be a barrier to saving lives on the road,” said Drive CEO, Simon Halfhide.
“As the mother of two young men at the beginning of a lifetime of driving, I know first hand how valuable these courses are in setting safe driving behaviours. We want to ensure this training is available and affordable for as many families a possible,” said Nine.com.au director, Kerri Elstub.
Through the impact and reach of the combined assets this campaign will reach more than 10 million Australian.
