Australian drivers need "attitude adjustment"

Extensive driver training is the key to improving safety on the road, says motor racing and Bathurst 1000 champion and now advanced driver trainer, Geoff Brabham.

In a recent interview with motoring.com.au, the 1993 Le Mans 24 Hour champion and son of three-time F1 World Champion Sir Jack Brabham, said road authorities and governments have failed to provide Australian drivers with a basic understanding of the risks involved, relying instead on outdated licensing tests that do little to prepare drivers for real world conditions.

"I think unfortunately the driving school is a bit of a pattern teaching people how to pass the test, and the test is not good enough. All the standards need to be raised a little bit.

"I'm not talking about car control so much, just some of the really basic stuff like braking distances. It's basic stuff that everybody should know.

"People, as far as I know, are not even required to do an emergency stop to pass their drivers test in this country and subsequently no one has any idea about it, and they wonder why there are so many accidents out on the road. Whereas in the workplace, it seems to have gone totally the other way. You can't climb a ladder without doing a two-day course," says Brabham.

"It's getting to a point where I think it's getting a bit over the top. They're [statutory authorities] taking all responsibility away from anybody as far as risk is concerned but they're not really applying that to driving cars on the roads, and I just don't get that. We're going from a point of treating everybody like children in the workplace but then letting them go out and learn from their mistakes when they drive cars."

Geoff Brabham works extensively in advanced driver training in Australia and says that poor driver behaviour stems from a lack of understanding.

"Everybody tailgates, and the reason everybody tailgates is because they have no idea what it takes to stop a car. And they get a big shock when they run into the back of people.

"Those are some of the simple basic techniques that can be covered when people learn how to drive cars. As is sitting in the right position, holding the wheel right, getting the eyes up.

"You can be one of the worst drivers in the world skill wise, but if you have your eyes up you're going to be a lot safer than someone who is quite skilful but not looking far enough ahead. Looking up is a huge key that needs to be hammered home to everybody," insists Brabham.

If more emphasis was placed on driving attitude and basic skills, Australia would be a much better and indeed safer place to be a motorist, and Brabham says Australia is not his favourite country to drive in.

"People sit in the fast lane, they drive slowly but also drive aggressively, they don’t let you in. We as Australians need a pretty big attitude adjustment. You go to Europe and people don’t sit in the fast lane. If someone comes up behind them they move over. Same thing in America.

"I've driven a lot in the USA and if people change lanes people give them room. In Australia, I don't know, it's a little bit like a war every time you go out and it's just so unnecessary."

In 2012 a total of 16,741,644 motor vehicles were registered in Australia, which is an increase of around two million vehicles since 2007. As the number of drivers and vehicles increases, the roads will become increasingly congested, especially in metropolitan areas.

Slightly more than an eighth (14 per cent) of all Australian drivers are aged between 17 and 25 yet they represent more than a quarter (26 per cent) of all road fatalities. Brabham says that driver training courses are important for drivers of all ages because it shows people what they can't do, which is "just as important as showing people new techniques".

He said Australian authorities should "absolutely" take a leaf out of driver licence testing regimes in other countries such as Germany that require up to a week of advanced driver training, and that focussing purely on speeding will not make our roads safer.

"Unfortunately we're in a situation in this country where we're just dumbing everyone down. It's in the workplace, on the roads... I'm not saying this is good or bad, but we as Australians - I think - drive slower than any other country I've ever been to. Yet people still have accidents and people still die on the roads, so yes speed is important, but unfortunately that's all we talk about in this country," he said.

"There's so much more to it to keep people safe on the roads than just speed. They need to cover the other things [during licence testing] in tandem if they're going to make an impact. At the moment that's not happening."

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