Local authorities and other stakeholders are being encouraged to make use of a new national database of approved driving instructors (ADIs) who have been trained to support mature drivers.
Many local authorities deliver some form of mature driver support scheme but often struggle to recruit ADIs who have the specialist knowledge needed to support mature drivers.
To address this, Road Safety GB received funding from The Road Safety Trust to deliver its Ageing Driver Training Course to 300 ADIs free-of-charge.
The course provides ADIs with information and advice on how to support mature drivers by expanding their understanding across a range of areas, including:
- Common collisions experienced by mature drivers
- How the ageing process may impact on:
- Eyesight
- Hazard perceptions skills
- Strength and flexibility
- The need to promote self-assessment skills
- The role of diabetes
- How to prepare for driving retirement
- Professional boundaries.
Evaluation has demonstrated that the Ageing Driver Course has improved the participating ADIs’ awareness and understanding of the issues faced by an ageing driver.
Adam, an ADI that attended the course in 2025, said: “I found the course fascinating. I plan to use what I learned in all my future teaching or training because there were important areas that I hadn’t considered. After reading about diabetes and self-evaluation, I now feel much more educated as well as being better equipped to pass that knowledge on.”
A key element of The Road Safety Trust funded work has also been to make the contact details of the trained ADIs available to local authority and national mature driver scheme providers through the creation and implementation of a register of ADIs.
The register provides contact details split by RSGB region. There are 12 existing well organised regions; providing the information in this way is familiar and useful to local authorities and other scheme providers.
James Gibson, executive director of Road Safety GB, said: “The challenges faced by mature drivers are complex, with few instructors receiving training on these issues as part of their ADI training.
“This course helps to develop an ADI’s understanding of the subject, and we are very grateful to The Road Safety Trust for helping us to extend the reach of the course.
“The funding has also enabled Road Safety GB to create a database of ADIs, which we encourage local authorities and other mature driver course providers to make use of when carrying out initiatives.”
Road Safety GB will continue to maintain and manage the ADI Register for the long term. This will include adding further ADI contact details should more be trained in the future as well as updating or removing contact details as appropriate.
Ruth Purdie OBE, Chief Executive of The Road Safety Trust, said: “It’s so important that we have fully skilled and understanding ADIs who recognise the complex challenges that mature drivers face behind the wheel.
“We know that many hadn’t previously been able to undertake the Aging Driver Training Course, usually due to cost and time implications.
“That’s why I was pleased that we were able to fund this project so they could do the training free of charge, and I’m delighted to see so many ADIs are now equipped with the knowledge that they can pass on to mature drivers to ensure they can continue to drive safely on our roads.”
Comment on this story