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The subject of driving standards is, in itself, very large.

Getting one's driving license is the obvious first step in anyone's driving 'career,' but even in developed countries the difference in the required standards is vast. Germany is often cited as being the hardest country in which to learn but many other countries are not far behind that level. Sadly, however, this does not include the USA, where -- in the context of each driver's long-term safety -- the standard for passing the driving test is comparatively low.

This leads us to the next contentious issue. On one hand it is easy to show that almost 60% of all road crashes and the resultant casualties are caused solely by driver error and over 90% of all crashes are at least partially due to the same cause. On the other hand, some academics are prone to dismiss driver training as being an ineffective way to combat road casualties, but in the opinion of Drive and Stay Alive, Inc., this claim is only a sign that even those academics are not conversant with the full scope of driver training. 

While it is not possible for many drivers to enjoy the benefits of proper, high-level, on-the-road driver training, the fact remains that driving standards, in virtually all countries, could be raised significantly and that fewer casualties would be the inevitable outcome. 

Ken Smith is a Fellow of the Australian College of Road Safety and has kindly given us permission to feature some of his papers on the Drive and Stay Alive website. See: Creating safer new drivers.  Also see the article: What is advanced driving? 

Special courses are available, in some countries, for the drivers of emergency vehicles. The Scottish Ambulance Service, for example, has an interesting website about their Accident and Emergency Driver Training.

Over the forthcoming months, this information on this page will be expanded significantly so if it is an important subject to you please bookmark us and come back at a later date.

Back to the index of general articles

Index

What Exactly IS Advanced Driving?

Creating Safer New Drivers

Human Error as the Primary Cause of Road Accidents

The Six Standards of Driving

Police Driver Training (UK, 2005)

Fear of Driving -- FAQ Page

Rules for Learners & Students

Australia (2004), Ken Smith

21 European Countries plus the Russian Federation, Algeria, Israel and Tunisia (2002)