The facts
Client: Blaenau
Gwent County Borough Council, Caerphilly County Borough Council,
Monmouthshire County Council, Newport City Council, Torfaen County
Borough Council
Location: South East Wales
Services: Road Safety Education
Sector: Road Safety
Start/Completion: Ongoing
The project
Pass Plus Cymru is a Welsh Assembly
Government funded project, and is aimed at young drivers (17-25)
who have recently passed their test. It aims to help them
improve driving skills, gain extra experience, and possibly obtain
a discount on their car insurance.
The course requires young drivers to attend a
three hour interactive classroom session followed by an eight hour
`on-the-road in-car' session (split between two drivers) with a
Pass Plus registered Approved Driving Instructor. The Pass
Plus Cymru scheme comprises six specially designed modules which
cover: driving around town, out of town, in all weathers, at night,
on dual carriageways and on motorways. Also covered are
defensive driving, hazard awareness, concentration, speed, drugs
and drink driving, safe attitudes and behaviour.
Because the participants are trained by a
professional driving instructor, they gain valuable extra
experience and positive motoring skills that would otherwise take a
long time to acquire. Upon completion of the course each
candidate is issued with a Certificate of Achievement as well as
the Pass Plus Certificate. The cost of the course, which has been
accredited by the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), is £20 - a
significant discount from the normal cost of between £120 and
£150.
The scheme is organised on an all Wales basis
by Road Safety Wales with MAC Driver Training as the contract
holder. The Road Safety Team at Capita Symonds organise
courses and funding allocation for the Gwent region.
The Driving Standards Agency is currently
consulting about the future of driver training for young
people. One suggestion is that the Pass Plus Cymru model
should become the norm for the whole of the UK.