Engage Driving is a road safety initiative aimed at young drivers. As the parent or guardian of a young person who may have recently passed their driving test, you should feel relieved, reassured and confident that your son or daughter is now equipped with the skills and knowledge to keep them and their friends safe on our roads.

You may want to ask them some questions about their knowledge:

• What they know about alcohol, drugs and risks to drivers
• Their awareness of the issue of peer pressure and techniques for coping with it
• The different types of distraction
• Fatigue and how to stay safe as a driver
• Their experience of common road scenarios
• How they make the right speed choice

Unfortunately, their answers (or lack of them) may cause you concern. A lot of driving instructors consider their role is to provide drivers with the skills to pass their driving test and to do so as quickly as possible. The end result – drivers who lack the necessary experience to avoid the common pitfalls, who lack awareness of issues that result in injury and worse, road death.

The driving test does not require knowledge of many of these issues and invariably, many instructors will not teach about them. Engage is an initiative aimed at young and novice drivers. It fills in the knowledge gaps and enables novice drivers to self-reflect and continue to learn after they have passed their test. Engage driving instructors receive specialist training and resources from a range of sources including leading experts and road safety officers in Merseyside and Cheshire West to help young learners become smarter drivers.

There’s no extra cost or time involved but the benefits could prove priceless.

Why we need Engage Driving?

Young people aged 17 to 24 only account for around 7% of all driving licence holders in the UK but feature in about 20% of road collisions.

It’s too easy to think that improved safety among young drivers can be sought through greater regulation, new laws and police powers and penalties. However, whilst they may provide some answers, they are unlikely to work in isolation without greater driver education like that provided by Engage.

Most young drivers start out with positive intentions to drive safely, but this can be tested when faced with new or challenging situations. The Engage syllabus includes drink and drug driving, peer influence, fatigue, speed and distractions, topics often not included in ‘standard’ driving lessons – even though they are contributory causes of road traffic collisions.

The DVSA currently recommends that novice drivers receive between 30 and 40 hours of driving tuition before they take their driving test. This means that it may potentially cost up to £1000 to obtain a full driving licence but what price do you place on the safety of your loved one?

Engage driving instructors help the learner develop skills and coping strategies to deal with these situations confidently and keep themselves, their passengers and other road users safe.

Any extra benefits to choosing an Engage instructor?

There are benefits for you, the parent or guardian. Learners who train with an Engage instructor qualify for a free one-hour driving session on behalf of a nominated adult (parent, friend, relative, etc). This session helps bring the adult up to speed with how learners are taught to drive these days. They also learn how to make the most of their own supervised driving sessions and what the driving test is currenlty like – it’s certainly changed since you took your test!

Learners who nominate an adult who takes the session receives a one-hour post-test lesson for free!

For more information, call 0151 606 2143 or email us via www.engagedriving.co.uk

Engage Driving is a growing initiative and we are keen to ‘recruit’ more driving instructors into our team. Our instructors tell us that they find the initiative not only helps them with the current DVSA standards check it also allows them access to useful information from the police and road safety professionals.

The benefits of being an Engage Driving Instructor:

• You can attend quarterly seminars organised by Merseyside Road Safety Partnership in connection with Cheshire West & Chester Council, they are open to all ADIs who wish to invest in their own learning. There is a membership contribution of £25 for the year, which is re-invested in training and networking events with guest speakers from the field of road safety, traffic management and behaviour change.
• You are provided with training materials that other ADIs are unable to access without being part of the scheme.
• You will receive access to free or subsidised training courses in topics such as Client Centred Learning and Social Media, etc.

For more information about becoming an Engage Advanced Driving Instructor, call 0151 606 2143 or email us via the website.

A Drive Safely for Longer driving assessment is a 2-hour session for drivers aged 60+. This Merseyside Road Safety Partnership scheme was launched in 2016 and has proved to be very popular with close to 2500 assessments completed so far. The cost of the session is £20. Assessments are part funded by Merseyside Road Safety Partnership, so drivers only need to pay £20 to their driving instructor on the day of the assessment. This particular road safety initiative is designed to help senior drivers brush up on their skills and address any concerns they may have so that they can DRIVE SAFELY FOR LONGER!

It can help you with:

• Busy interchanges and roundabouts
• City centre driving
• Supermarket car parks
• Motorways, including ‘smart’ motorways
• Returning to driving after a break (eg. recovering from an operation)

The course is delivered by experienced Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) to enhance your driving skills, boost your confidence and enable you to stay safe in what can be a challenging environment. The assessment is arranged at a time and place to suit you. You can spend two hours with the instructor but this doesn’t mean that you will spend the entire time driving. During the introduction, your driving documents and eyesight are checked and you can highlight any particular areas of concern that you may have.

For the assessment, you can use your own car or the instructor’s dual-controlled car if you prefer. Throughout, you will receive tips and advice to refresh your knowledge and skills. The assessment is ‘tailor-made’ to suit your personal requirements and is a mixture of discussion and practical driving. Afterwards, the instructor will give you some feedback and advice and answer any questions that you may have.

This is an informal and confidential course which simply aims to enhance your current skills and reduce risks on the road. It is not a driving test – there is no pass or fail.

Places are limited in line with available funding.

To book a place on the course

Go to www.drivesafelyforlonger.co.uk and fill in your details on the online booking form. If you have any questions or you would like more information you can contact us via the website too.

Safer for Longer Workshops focus on raising awareness of road safety issues for the over 60 age group.

Wirral Council Road Safety Team can offer a free 2-hour theory workshop for senior road users. The theory session is designed to support senior road users to keep safe if they are drivers, pedestrians or using public transport.

The content of the workshop includes 5 subject areas:

• lifestyle
• eyesight
• mobility
• driver assessments
• public transport

Each subject is addressed in an informal group situation. The participants work through a work folder covering each subject with a road safety officer who provides advice and tips and road safety information.

If you are part of a community group and would like to know more about the issues which affect people aged 60+ we can bring the road safety workshop to you. The workshops work best with groups of at least 8 people up to 20 people. If you are part of an established community group, the road safety team are very happy to come out to you. If you are an individual wanting to access a workshop, we will do our best to secure a place in a group that is taking place in your area.

This activity is currently delivered in Wirral. For an informal discussion or to book a speaker for your event, get in touch via the website.

Merseyside Roads Safety Partnership, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority & Metro Mayor and Merseytravel work with BikeRight! to deliver:

• Bikeability! cycle training for children in schools and during the school holidays
  To educate children and give them vital practical training to help them stay safe while cycling to school or for fun.
• Family cycle skills
  To have the confidence to ride to school or on a family day out at the weekend.
• Adult/Student/Business – 1 to 1 and group cycle skills sessions
   For adults wanting to learn the basics, cycle in an urban environment or advance their cycling techniques.

We’ve had some great feedback about our sessions:

Thoroughly enjoyed the session. The time flew and normally when I am learning it drags but I was sorry when the session ended after two hours. Bruce was very personable and was very person-centred in his approach tailoring the activities to suit my needs. He was encouraging and supportive and friendly, I would thoroughly recommend him as a trainer.

Louise is a very experienced instructor and I immediately felt confident being under her instruction. I totally appreciated that she arrived on time and was clearly well prepared for our session.

Bev was really helpful and inspired confidence. Her instructions were clear and she was very positive and encouraging, knowing when to stretch my comfort zone a little when necessary. I enjoyed the session greatly. I would enjoy cycling a ‘route to work’ with a trainer and practicing some inner city roads if possible in future.

These sessions are available to anyone living, working or studying in Merseyside.

For full details of the types of courses and sessions BikeRight! provide, to check availability and book, click here. Simply register and follow their instructions.

April:

21st March – 1st April 2022
Sustrans – The Big Walk and Wheel 2022 (previously known as The Big Pedal)
Leave the car at home and walk, cycle or scoot to school

May:

NATIONAL WALKING MONTH

17th – 21st May 2022
NATIONAL WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK

June:

6th – 12th June 2022
NATIONAL BIKE WEEK

6th – 12th June 2022
CHILD SAFETY WEEK

August:

NATIONAL ROAD VICTIM MONTH

September:

PROJECT EDWARD (European Day Without A Road Death)

23rd – 30th September 2022
NATIONAL EYE HEALTH WEEK

22nd September 2022
WORLD – CAR FREE DAY

26th – 30th September 2022
NATIONAL CYCLE TO SCHOOL WEEK

October:

NATIONAL TYRE SAFETY MONTH

November:

14th – 20th November 2022
NATIONAL ROAD SAFETY WEEK

National Road Safety Organisations and Resources

BikeRight! Cycle Training for Children & Cycle Skills Sessions for Adults

Community Speedwatch UK

Bike Safe – national police run motorcycle initiative

Road Safety Trust – Wirral: Mind your business, road safety at work

Driving for better business – free information and resources for employers

RoadPeace – The National Charity for Road Crash Victims

Sustrans – the charity making it easier for people to walk and cycle

Cycling UK