DIA Motormouth

Join DIA CEO Carly Brookfield, respected Transport Psychologist Dr Shaun Helman and regular panellist Chris Bensted to debate whether restricting new driver licences is the right road to take.

Amendments being considered to the Road Traffic (New Drivers) Act could open the door to new drivers having their licenses restricted, including being banned from carrying passengers in the first 6 months of driving independently.

And although Government says it has no immediate plans to introduce such restrictions, a debate was held in the House of Commons just a few weeks ago on the subject, led by Transport Minister Richard Holden. 

Whilst road safety campaigners will point to the merits of graduated licensing schemes, and where they have been 'successfully' implemented elsewhere in the world, there are still challenges about how effective these measures have been in practice, and concerns about the impact such restrictions may have on the mobility and employability of young people.

Pragmatists also highlight challenges such as how any restrictions will be realistically policed when we can't even stop some from driving without licences and insurance.

Rev your engines for an action-packed podcast! We discussed recent changes to driving test notice periods, the booking process, and Standards Check grading with our panelists and audience.

In Part One - the DVSA's plan to extend the waiting period for those who failed their car test has caused quite a stir amongst pupils and trainers. The media was buzzing about it, and our panel and audience had some fiery takes to share.

Part Two - the DVSA wants to raise the bar on Standards Check pass rates, causing concern amongst trainers hovering close to the pass line. We dove into the regulator's rationale for the change, industry reactions, and what more could be done to improve trainer standards.

Featuring DIA CEO Carly Brookfield, regular panellists Chris Bensted and Graham Hooper and views from our audience of trainers themselves!

In this session we'll be looking at the training of ADIs, why and how it needs to change.

Topics we'll cover:

• is the current training route for instructors fit for purpose?
• is ORDIT a worthwhile way of encouraging and highlighting best practice in trainer training or should we overhaul how we evaluate and recognise what makes a good Train the Trainer?
• what are the gaps in ADI knowledge when they qualify and how do we plug them?
• how should trainer performance be monitored, managed and developed?

Please join Carly Brookfield, DIA Chief Executive, special guest John Farlam of Smart Driving and regular panellists Graham Hooper and Chris Bensted for the latest episode of Motormouth and help us debate the issues of training and developing trainers.

This month we'll be asking what New Year's resolutions should the DVSA, the industry and individual trainers, be making to make sure 2023 really is a year of recovery and renewal - and not just a repeat of the previous year in terms of mistakes made or opportunities missed. We'll also look at the fixes our government regulator, the profession as a whole, and individual businesses need to consider making to move driver and rider training forward. 

Guest panellists:

• Chris Bensted Co-founder of The Driving Instructor and Trainers Collective and Better Driver Training www.theditc.co.uk
• Graham Hooper Co-Managing Director,  Tri-Coaching Partnership www.tri-coachingpartnership.com