Index To Articles On Driving Standards

The subject of driving standards is, in itself, vast.

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. For example, Germany is often cited as the most complex country to learn in, but many other countries are not far behind that level. Sadly, however, this does not include the USA, where the standard for passing the driving test is comparatively low in the context of each driver’s long-term safety.

This leads us to the next contentious issue. On the 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 exact cause. However, on the other hand, some academics are prone to dismiss driver training as an ineffective way to combat road casualties. Still, 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 many drivers can’t 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 exciting website about their Accident and Emergency Driver Training.

Over the forthcoming months, the information on this page will be expanded significantly, so if it is an essential subject, please bookmark us and return later.