Accompanied Driving in Sweden

1
Accompanied Driving in Sweden
Presentation at CIECA-workshop Berlin 14
December 2006
Hans Mattsson Swedish Road Administration
Driving Licennce Section
2
History

• 1906 Certificate to drive a car
• 1923 Demands for driving licence, skills and
  experience to offer training in exchange for
  payment (At least 3 years from 1928)
• 1945 . Big increase in car fleet, good times for
  driver instruction.
• 1951 Regulation requiring approval for driving
  schools, directors, teachers and instructors,
  tested and judged for fitness by appointed
  inspectors
• 1967 Switch from driving on the left to driving
  on the right.

3
Content in driver training

• 1906 (nothing specified)
• 1916 Content specified (most basic traffic rules,
  car construction and manoeuvring skills)
• 1923 Content extended (also personal fitness)
• 1944 More added (good driving skills and
  experience)
• 1965 Specification of content in education
  (elaborated by new Traffic Safety Authority in
  early 1970s). First official curriculum ?
• (to be continued)

4
Content (continued)

• 1972 Many formal regulations, testing manuals,
  new test policy etc
• 1989 New curriculum with new areas (Risks and
  Human behaviour), very detailed
• 1996 Adaptation to EU-directive
• 2006 New curriculum based on GDE-matrix and
  Introductory courses for accompanying drivers.
  General goals without detailed specifications in
  curriculum
• Summary
• An ongoing development of content, from nothing
  to the GDE-matrix

5
Accompanied driving

• Principle of flexible training strategies
• Relations between laymen and professional
  instruction?
• Educational traditions important, still in place
• Driver training, on the job training, not
  education
• First mandatory course (1975) was a skid-pan
  programme, later Risk Education (from mid
  1990s)
• (to be continued)

6
Accompanied driving (continued)

• Lack of regulations from the start, but a private
  instructor is guiding, not just a comforting
  presence
• The instructor/teacher in the car is legally the
  driver during training
• Age limits From the start, 18 years.
• In early 1970s, 17 years and 9 months.
• Later on, 17.5 years.
• Age limit lowered to 16 years in 1993 as an
  option (trial), permanent a couple of years later

7
Accompanied driving from age 16 (trial)- demands
on instructor and pupil

• Learners permit for the learner driver,
  instructor permit for the laymen instructor
• A driving school teacher or an appointed layman
  instructor in the car
• The laymen instructor
• 24 years of age, at least
• B-licence since the last five years without
  revocations
• Personally appointed to the learner

8
Accompanied driving from age 16 (trial) - groups
for evaulation

• Old 17.5 years-group, those training before
  September 1993
• 16 years-group, those taking the opportunity to
  register for early start of training, from age
  16.
• New 17.5 years-group, those staying with the
  old regulations from September 1993 and on
• ( approx 50 of the age group chose the 16 years
  model)

9
Accompanied driving from age 16 (trial) -
Training hours

• Dr School Private Total
• Old 17.5 11h 38h 49h
• 16 Years 11h 108h 119h
• New 17.5 13h 29h 42h

10
Accompanied driving from age 16 (trial) -
Accident rate (with human injuries, 2 first years)

• Differences in data register
• /1000 driver /10 million km
• 16 years - Old 17.5 -48 -46
• 16 Years - New 17.5 -46 -46
• Before After (in total) -21 -17

11
Introductory course- characteristics

• Compulsory for laymen instructor and pupil
  (together)
• Necessary before applying for the instructor
  permit
• At least three full hours (breaks not included)
• Courses offered by approved educational bodies
• More than one supervisor may go with the same
  pupil
• More than one pupil may go with the same
  supervisor
• Purpose is to lower risks during training and for
  the beginner drivers, as well as helping to
  structure education to be more effective.

12
Introductory course- content

• Content and structure of the curriculum
• Demands to meet before going to the driving test
• The legal and moral responsibilities of the
  instructor
• Practical advice on how to plan and structure the
  training, both for safety reasons and from a
  pedagogical point of view
• Risk related factors like fatigue, drugs and
  alcohol

13
End of story, thank you.
Alternative 1
Alternative 2
Unaccompanied driving
Company while driving