§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 19 February,Official Report, column, 566–67, concerning research into the teaching of learner drivers, what previous research his Department has undertaken into the matters referred to in the answer. [19425]
§ Mr. BowisThe Department commissioned the Transport Research Laboratory to carry out a study of learner and novice drivers in 1988. This study considered methods used in learning to drive by 30,000 drivers who took their driving test on four selected dates. Learning methods were considered in relation to performance in the driving test and it was found that those drivers who had practised with a friend or relation while learning to drive had a higher pass rate in the driving test. This finding takes no account of variations in driving ability and confidence, and the university of Surrey research is following this up. Three research reports have been published and the final report will be published in the spring.
In 1992, a study entitled "The Accident Liability of Novice Drivers" was commissioned. The study, carried out by St. George's hospital medical school, sought to identify factors associated with novice driver accidents which could help predict those drivers most likely to be accident involved after passing the driving test. Consideration of learning methods was only a small element of this study, but driving instructors were asked to rate a sample of their pupils. Instructors rated learner drivers who had relatively more practice with friends or relations as safer, more responsive to instruction, and more likely to pass the driving test. This research is now complete.