Is the skill of driving valued highly enough?

The head of the Driving Instructors Association (DIA) is the latest confirmed speaker for the Young Driver Focus* conference to be held in May 2014.

As CEO of one of the UK’s largest driver education and training bodies, Carly Brookfield describes herself as “a passionate advocate of the importance of professional driver training in delivering safer new drivers to our roads, as well as developing the skills of existing licence holders and road users”.

In her presentation, titled “Driver Education – Preparing young people for real life on our roads”, Carly will ask whether the skill of driving is valued highly enough, and therefore is its acquisition – and the need to continually develop it – taken seriously enough?

She will also examine the issues surrounding learning to drive and the efficacy of the current system in preparing young drivers for real life on the roads.

As well as considering what’s not working, she will look at what could work better  – and how we should be developing driver education in the future.

Carly Brookfield is responsible for the day to day management and strategic development of the DIA Group, and directs a portfolio of organisations focused on developing driving standards and standards of driver training, in the UK and internationally.

The DIA is the UK’s largest membership organisation for professional driver and rider trainers, representing more than 11,500 trainers.

*Young Driver Focus
Young Driver Focus is a collaborative partnership between Road Safety GB and FirstCar, supported by Arval who are providing the venue, technology and refreshments. It is free for Road Safety GB Academy members to attend. The capacity is around 150 delegates and only a handful of places remain available.

The conference will look at “cutting young driver casualties now and in the future”. As this suggests the event will be forward-focused rather than a retrospective look at young driver collisions and casualties.

It will be held at The Arval Centre in Swindon (just off the M4) on Wednesday 14 May 2014, 10.00am – 3.30pm.

For more information contact Nick Rawlings or Sally Bartrum on 01379 650112.