First Gear Pre-Driver Training For Teenagers
Would-be drivers are being urged to take part in one of Derbyshire County Council’s pre-driver training days before they take to the county’s roads.
Fifteen to 17-year-olds are being offered the chance to participate in a day-long classroom and practical ‘First Gear’ training session to prepare them for when they get behind the wheel.
The classroom session, run by a council road safety officer, offers guidance on: the importance of choosing the right driving instructor; the cost of learning to drive and maintaining a vehicle; looking after a vehicle and The Highway Code.
These morning sessions are followed up with a two hour, off-road practical lesson with an approved driving instructor.
This covers moving off safely and correctly, steering an accurate course, changing up and down gears and braking safely and coming to a stop.
Councillor Simon Spencer, Derbyshire County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Infrastructure, said: "Road safety remains a top priority for us and we are committed to investing in initiatives aimed at helping to keep young people safe on the county's roads."
Latest figures show that comparing the total number of drivers killed or seriously injured up to August 2017 with the previous 12 months the number of casualties was down by 15%.
And over the average of the last three years – 2015 to 2017 - the number had fallen by 27%.
Councillor Spencer added: “Any death on the road is one too many but it is encouraging to see that initiatives such as First Gear are having an impact in contributing towards a downwards trend in the number of young people killed or seriously injured each year on Derbyshire’s roads.”
The next sessions, which will run between 9.00am and 3.30pm, are on:
• Thursday 5 April, Staveley Fire Station, Crompton Road, Staveley
• Sunday 10 June, Ripley Joint Training Centre, Derbyshire Constabulary Headquarters, Butterley Hall, Ripley
• Thursday 26 July, The Long Eaton School, Thoresby Road, Long Eaton
• Tuesday 7 August, Staveley Fire Station, Crompton Road, Staveley
• Sunday 28 October, Derbyshire County Council, County Hall, Matlock.
The course costs £39. To book a place email: first.gear@derbyshire.gov.uk or call the council’s road safety team on 01629 538060.
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