'We need to go beyond teaching young drivers to pass a test'

Sam, 16, is one of the young drivers taking part in the course

The father of a 16-year-old boy who has made an early start on his driving lessons has said the family were "really keen" to make sure he would be safe on the roads, as figures showed one in five new drivers would crash during their first year.

Sam, who lives near Rotherham, is not yet old enough for standard lessons, so his dad Andrew brought him to a safety course on an airfield near York.

The Pathfinder Initiative was set up to teach children between the ages of 15 and 17 basic driving skills, as well as important lessons on safety.

Andrew said: "Having a safe space to practise and getting to understand how the car feels has been really, really good for him."

It comes as road safety charity Brake reported one in five new drivers would crash during their first year on the road.

Reasons for this include inexperience and overconfidence, but peer pressure has also been a factor in many fatal crashes, the charity said.

Pathfinder said its volunteer-led courses reduced the first-year crash rate to one in 20 drivers.

During his training, Sam has been carefully manoeuvring his dad's car around orange cones at Rufforth Airfield.

He spent the week-long course starting and stopping the vehicle, changing gears and overtaking, as well as trying his hand at reverse parking.

He has also learned about the risks associated with driving.

"I've always been interested in cars, I've always wanted to drive," the teenager said.

"I just thought this would be a good opportunity for me to get an idea of it before I do my driving lessons.

"It made me a bit nervous but very quickly I realised that everyone's here to help and now I'm a lot more confident."

Andrew came across the course while at a car show.

"We thought it was really important that he did a safety course before he learned to drive," he said.

Instructor David Mcauley has been teaching at Pathfinder since 2018

Aside from learning skills on the road, students spend time out of their cars learning about the causes of collisions.

One of the volunteer instructors, David Mcauley, said these sessions were invaluable to the teenagers.

"We teach them skills that a driving instructor wouldn't because they're teaching them to pass a test. We're going beyond that," he said.

"We did a demonstration of braking distances at 20, 30, 50 and 70mph to show how far a car travels before it stops.

"That can only be done in this sort of environment."

The instructor said the results "shocked" both the young drivers and their parents.

"The message we're getting across is that driving on a motorway, bumper to bumper to the car in front, if that car stops, you're going to hit the back of it," he added.

Ian Goring says pupils learn about peer pressure and how to be assertive as a passenger in danger

Sessions also look at issues such as peer pressure, which can encourage bad driving and result in drivers "showing off" to their passengers.

Brake says newly qualified drivers with a car full of passengers of a similar age are four times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash, compared with driving alone.

However, when carrying older adult passengers, young drivers were less likely to crash, indicating it was peer pressure rather than simply the presence of passengers that raised the risk.

The Yorkshire coordinator for the Pathfinder programme, Ian Goring, said the pupils were taught techniques on how to resist peer pressure, as well as how to deal with dangerous drivers from the passenger seat.

"Shouting and screaming won't necessarily get the driver to slow down and be safe but saying you are going to be sick in the footwell might," he said.

"It's helpful for the parents to watch on all the time, they are learning something as well after passing their tests 30 years ago."

Aaron Bell was killed in a crash along with two of his friends near Bedale in 2022

According to the programme, 460 people were killed or seriously injured on North Yorkshire's roads in 2023.

Of the 460, 117 were between 16 and 24 years of age.

Nicola Bell-Percy's son Aaron Bell was one such teenager killed in a crash in 2022.

The 18-year-old was one of three passengers who died when the teenage driver of the car hit a tree on the B6268.

Joshua Chapman, of Bedale, later admitted causing their deaths and was jailed for nine years and four months at Teesside Crown Court in March 2024.

Ms Bell-Percy has since campaigned for better road safety for young drivers.

"One of the biggest things is peer pressure and it's one thing that I probably hadn't instilled in my son," she said.

"If you don't feel safe, don't get back in that car or if you feel unsafe get out of the car.

"It's easier trying to find a way to get home than not get home at all."

She agreed courses like the Pathfinder Initiative were important in educating young people, especially if their parents were closely involved.

However, she also called for stricter laws.

"We're pushing for a graduated driving licence because no matter what education a teenager listens to, when they get into the teenage years of 17, 18, 19, they can't see the danger," she said.

"You've got to take that danger away from them."

'Positive impact'

The Pathfinder Initiative has received a £6,500 grant from York and North Yorkshire mayor's Community Fund, which will allow three courses to take place during school holidays over 12 months.

Jo Coles, Deputy Mayor for Policing, Fire and Crime, said: "Mayor David Skaith and I are committed to delivering safe places for everyone in York and North Yorkshire and with more than 6,000 miles of roads in our area road safety, and the vital work of our road safety partnership is a major part of that.

"The Pathfinder programme has already had a really positive impact, reducing the number of new drivers involved in road collisions and accidents so we're delighted to be able to provide additional funding to enable them reach more young drivers."

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