Speaker will bring international perspective to young driver event

The latest confirmed speaker for Young Driver Focus 2016 will fly from ‘down under’ to present the most extensive novice driver training and road safety education initiative in Australia’s history.

Young Driver Focus 2016 is being held at the prestigious RAC Club in London’s Pall Mall, courtesy of the RAC Foundation, on Wednesday 20 April 2016. The event is organised by Road Safety GB in partnership with FirstCar and in association with ingenie. It is sponsored by the MIB and supported by stakeholders including the DfT, Road Safety Scotland, RoadSafe, RoSPA, PACTS and IAM.

Ben Haythorpe, senior manager community education at the RAA Group, will outline keys2drive, a joint initiative of the AAA (Australian Automobile Association) and the Australian Government.

Keys2drive comprises three major components: a free 60-minute lesson, a website for novice drivers and a voluntary accreditation scheme for professional driving instructors. Over the past seven years more than 400,000 free lessons have been delivered. Research by the University of New South Wales show that keys2drive participants have a significantly lower crash rate than those who do not participate.

Ben Haythorpe has worked as a teacher and principal in schools in South Australia, the United Kingdom and Japan, and has specialised in road safety education for the past 12 years. In his current role he focuses on education programmes for schools as well as younger and older drivers.

The Keys2drive presentation will form part of a session at Young Driver Focus 2016 titled an ‘international perspective’, which will also include presentations by Mark Born and Professor Warren Brodsky from the Ben-Gurion University Of The Negev, Israel.

Mark Born will present a review of driving instructor training from around the world while Professor Brodsky will explain the effects of in-car music on driver behaviour, and how playlists can be modified to improve safety.

Around 120 people have already booked to attend Young Driver Focus 2016. The delegate fee for Road Safety GB and Academy members is just £100 and for other attendees £150 (both prices plus VAT).

Click here to register to attend, or here for information about exhibiting alongside the conference. For more information contact Sally Bartrum (delegate registration), Nick Rawlings (agenda & speakers) or Richard Storrs (exhibition).