Of the 16,961 respondents to the AA’s survey, 11% thought that passing a re-test would be ‘quite’ or ‘very’ unlikely.

There seemed to be greater confident from the men with nearly a third (32%) claiming they’d be ‘very likely’ to pass, compared to 23% of women.

Experience and time on the road also bore an influence as 15% of 18-24-year-olds reckoned a pass would be ‘quite’ or ‘very’ unlikely.

Edmund King, AA president, hoped drivers would remember key points from their learning days.

“It is alarming to think more than 3 million drivers who have passed their test may not be safe on the roads due to a lack or confidence or competence; to such a degree they don’ t think they would pass their driving test,” he commented.

“It is particularly worrying so many young drivers think they would not pass a re-test, when it can’t have been long since they took their test.

“Driving is a skill for life and, although it is easy to let bad habits form after your test, drivers should make sure their skills are kept polished.”

In an effort to increase confidence, the AA Charitable Trust is offering 2,000 free courses to nervous, lapsed or dangerous drivers.

Visit theaa.com/pupil/refreshertraining.do for more info.

The AA’s commercial driver training arm lays on hundreds of training sessions through the year for thousands of at-work drivers.

AA Drivetech also conducts workshops for motorists who opt for training instead of receiving three penalty points.

Research carried out by the training body suggests that more than 4 in 10 drivers (42%) who attended police speed awareness courses were either at work at the time of the offence or on their workplace commute.

Jim Kirkwood, AA DriveTech MD, reckons that education is the most direct influence upon driver behaviour.

He comments:“Whether it’s getting a sceptical company employee to consider a fresh approach to a particular driving scenario or winning over a disgruntled motorist caught speeding, we pride ourselves on never talking down to people.

“It’s all about understanding their particular circumstances, empathising and then offering advice in a way that wins acceptance.

“Our unique style of delivery appears to have been pretty successful at getting drivers to consider the implications of their actions out on road. Education is wasted unless it’s enduring.”

It was revealed earlier this year that the annual number of people killed on British roads dipped below the 2,000 point for the first time [link to full story].

1,857 lives were lost as a result of road accidents last year, according to figures released by the Department for Transport in June – a 16% drop on 2009’s figure.

The AA’s commercial driver training arm will seek to improve driving standards as part of the Transport for London contract by allowing bus operators to follow up on reports from AA DriveTech assessors concerning driver attitude and behaviour.

Currently completing around 50,000 driver assessments every year, AA DriverTech was the right choice, reckons Business Development Director Jason Vallint.

He comments: “AA DriveTech recognises the necessity for, and importance of, impartial, independent and consistent assessment of bus drivers.

“Given the enormity of the Driver Quality Monitoring task in London, created by the myriad of routes, bus operating companies and thousands of professional bus drivers, AA DriveTech provides the necessary confidence for industry stakeholders and passengers that the standard of both bus assessment and driving in London will be maintained and ultimately raised.”

Undercover tests have been ongoing for the last six weeks in which over 1,000 assessments have been carried out.

More than 7,500 anonymous reports are expected to have been completed by the time the London Olympics kick off next summer.

This latest addition will pump the school’s vehicle count to around 3,850. The Focus joins the Ford Fiesta, providing a worthy choice of cars for learner drivers.

Sarah Dopson, AA’s Head of Group Fleet, said the Focus would make the “perfect stablemate” for the Fiesta.

“Not only is the new Ford Focus attractive to us in terms of its cost-effectiveness, but it is also ideal as a car for tuition purposes and learners are attracted to the AA Driving School as a result,” she said.

Ian Watson, Ford’s direct sales manager, believes the new Focus has the ability to impress just as much as the Fiesta.

“The car in which you learn to drive leaves a lasting impression on you and Ford is of course delighted to have been associated with the AA Driving School on an exclusive basis for many years,” he commented.

“We’re sure that the new Ford Focus will prove every bit as popular with students as the Ford Fiesta and the previous Focus.”

Ford’s exclusive supply deal with AA Driving School goes back to 1998. The British manufacturer is currently in a three-year deal with AA to provide over 8,000 cars.

The deal – the value of which has not been disclosed – will see the supplier of driver risk management products trade within the AA DriveTech business but still operate as a separate legal entity.

IDS specialises in verification of driver licenses, insurance and MOT as well as providing company-owned and grey fleet vehicle driver risk management data.

Jim Kirkwood, MD of AA DriveTech, said the purchase will see their services improve as well as expand into less prolific territory.

“This deal is all about outstanding strategic fit and expansion of our duty of care portfolio,” he said.

“By combining both company’s existing market positions as well as our complementary technologies, we believe we can significantly grow both businesses in the short and long term.

“It also strengthens our ability to deliver technology-based solutions to the fleet risk sector and improves our reach in the North of England.”

‘Business as usual’

Jonathan Jerome of IDS (pictured below) added that existing customers shouldn’t too much difference following the purchase.

“It’s very much ‘business as usual’ as our customers will continue to deal with the same teams and people as they always have,” he said. “This was a particularly important element of the deal for the Directors and management team at Intelligent Data Systems.

“Having worked very closely with the AA for a number of years, we’re delighted to be joining the AA family which will underpin our growth and provide access to resources to expand on our existing market leadership position.

“We have also been very innovative in the ‘grey fleet’ arena and see many opportunities to offer our services to AA DriveTech’s customers and vice versa.”

Via its FleetSafe division, AA DriveTech annually re-trains over 23,000 employees who drive for work purposes. More than 300,000 UK drivers have attended some form of AA DriveTech course in the past two years.

According to the AA, 4.92% of drivers don’t bother belting up despite this playing a factor in 30% of road deaths.

Instances of seatbelt snubbing were most common in the West Midlands (7.43%), followed closely by London (7.15%).

Nearly 10% of drivers appeared to be going too fast, one in 25 were happy to drive around with broken brake lights while a third didn’t use their indicators.

The concerning data was collected by the AA’s 400 volunteer ‘streetwatchers’ over a week during May.

The message regarding mobile phones seems to have soaked in with just 0.2% of motorists spotted fiddling with their device at junctions.

Great concern

AA President Edmund King said the number of seatbelt slackers was concerning: “The survey does show that in many cases respondents perceived road safety infringements to be much worse than they actually were.

“If ‘localism’ is going to influence the use of road safety resources, local authorities better be sure that reality matches perception.

“Perhaps the biggest worry is that one in ten drivers was observed to be going too fast at junctions.  Almost one third didn’t indicate when turning, however some observers have reported that their junctions had filters or different lanes for turning left.

“AA Streetwatch reveals many regional variations but also raises questions for future analysis.  These include whether the use of hand-held mobile phones is less at junctions or outside business hours. 

“One can also question why running a red light was perceived as being less serious than using a hand-held mobile phone while driving.”

They will go through Driver CPC training with AA DriveTech, the specialist driver training arm of the AA that formed a partnership with the Food Storage and Distribution Federation (FSDF) earlier this year.

Operations Director Mike Lythgoe explained the decision: “Cold Move is totally committed to employee development and the Driver CPC Training programme that has been developed by AA DriveTech will only further improve the performance and safety of our participating employees.

“We can see why the FSDF elected to have AA DriveTech as a partner. They have gone out of their way to provide the courses we want and on the days and in the locations we want them, creating the minimum disruption to our business.”

The training will cover eco driving, vehicles checks, reversing and manoeuvring and take place during weekends.

Jason Vallint, Business Development Director at AA DriveTech, added: “We’re delighted to get our first FSDF client on board. We’ve developed a suite of specialist Driver CPC courses for the Food Distribution sector, which we hope will become the benchmark for this industry.”

More than 23,000 employees are retrained by AA DriveTech every year through its FleetSafe division.

By bringing in 500 Transits on top of the 247 ordered last year, this means that over half of the AA’s 3,000-strong fleet is now made up of Ford vehicles.

The majority of the new Transits will join the AA’s roadside rescue fleet but 50 of them will support the AutoWindshields division, which already operates a 100% Ford Transit fleet.

“The order of 500 vans is in recognition of the quality and performance of the Ford Transit,” said Sarah Dopson, Fleet Manager for the AA.

“The Transit meets all our requirements for affordable running costs and is the best vehicle for the job.  The 500 Transits currently on order could rise by the end of the year.”

Paul Henderson, a Sales Director with Ford, added: “Ford and the AA have enjoyed a long and mutually beneficial relationship which is further strengthened by this new, large order of Ford Transits.

“We look forward to working with the AA to help maintain its status as the UK’s largest roadside assistance organisation.”

Equally applicable to car and van drivers, the techniques employed by the course do not call for a dramatic change in driver behaviour and are easily accommodated in a typical working day without compromising journey times.

In addition, AA DriveTech has come up with three simple pieces of advice which should be easy to apply and effective in improving fuel consumption by around 5 per cent:

1. If your vehicle doesn’t have ‘Stop/Start’ technology, deploy your own version. By looking well ahead in traffic or at lights you should be able to judge if you’re going to be stopped for more than 30 seconds. If you are, switch off. Modern starters, batteries and charging systems are quite able to cope with this regime once they are at running temperature.
2. Find out where the engine’s ‘sweet spot’ is (usually the point at which peak torque is being produced) and change up at that point. When overtaking, select a gear that enables you to use that ‘sweet spot’ to best (and most efficient) advantage.
3. ‘Block change’ up the gearbox (1 ^st , 3 ^rd , 6 ^th ) when circumstances allow, back off the throttle as much as you can to use the vehicle’s existing momentum to carry it forward, only use the brakes to slow down and don’t exceed the speed limit.

AA DriveTech’s Fleet Director Paul Holmes puts the potential gains into perspective: “If you compare the cost of fuelling a 100 vehicle fleet between now and this time last year you could be looking at £365,454 now as opposed to £289,090 [100 vehicles @ 33mpg average; 20K miles p.a.; fuel @ £1.05 per litre/£4.78 per gallon]. That’s a staggering 26% increase!

“If all those drivers completed a Fuel Save 15 course and continued to apply those techniques during every trip you could expect to claw back well over £50,000 worth of fuel cost. You have to sell a lot of products or services to generate profit of that magnitude.”

For more information about FuelSave 15 please contact fleetsafe@AAdrivetech.com

The AA recognises that parents have a key role to play in learners’ driving development, but many have developed bad habits which they risk passing on, or lack up-to-date knowledge or confidence, which is why last year the AA launched the pioneering Supporting Learner Drivers course, which puts parents back in the driving seat with an AA instructor to help them develop skills for coaching learners.  The course is designed to ensure practice drives complement and reinforce the syllabus taught to learners in lessons with a professional driving instructor.

AA Driving School director Simon Douglas says:  “Learners who combine formal lessons from an instructor with practice with family or friends boost their chances of passing their test and are likely to be safer drivers.  But dangerous habits are easily passed on, and it is alarming to see evidence that road rage is being passed on to another generation of drivers.  Parents should try to set a good example with their own driving – and remember to let the experts do the teaching, while they focus on helping their children gain experience.”

Simon Douglas adds:  “By teaming up with their child’s instructor, mum or dad can ensure they provide the best possible support and that they complement, not contradict, the key skills a learner picks up in formal lessons.”

Top 10 bad habits passed on by parents to learner drivers (As reported by instructors at AA Driving School)

1.         Not using mirrors properly – cited by 25% of instructors
2.         Speeding – 14%
3.         Not checking blind spots – 14%
4.         Not feeding the wheel when turning – 14%
5.         Braking too hard or late – 11%
6.         Driving too close to the vehicle in front – 8%
7.         Letting the wheel slip through the hands – 6%
8.         Having only one hand on the wheel – 6%
9.         Criticising or getting angry at other drivers – 5%
10.       Coasting in neutral – 3%

With prices at the pump sitting at a record high, and the likelihood of further rises in light of recent trouble in Libya, more than half of all drivers (59%) could curb their speed on motorways in a bid to limit their fuel consumption, according to new research released by the Department for Transport.

This finding is supported by a recent AA/Populus survey which revealed that 49% of AA members intend to drive more economically as a direct response to rising fuel costs. Drivers are also paying over £10 more per tank of diesel than a year ago, and over £8.40 more per tank of petrol.

Sticking to the speed limit, especially on motorways, has been identified by the AA’s Drive Smart eco driving initiative as one of the most effective ways to cut fuel costs.

“Motorways are one of the key battlegrounds in the driver’s war against soaring fuel costs,” said technical advisor Alan Esam of AA Drive Smart, a training initiative launched to help motorists develop safe and fuel-efficient driving habits.

“Cruising at 80mph is illegal and can burn up to 25% more fuel than driving at 70mph; that’s 25% more money going up in smoke just to get from A to B.

“Easing off the gas on the motorway, along with other eco driving techniques, can slash up to £500 a year from your fuel bills – which means a two-car family can save up to £1,000 a year.”

Thankfully, plodding along at a snail’s pace isn’t the only answer, and AA Drive Smart has underlined a number of other ways to restrict fuel consumption.

Staying on top of maintenance such as checking tyre pressure, engine oil and having a regular service can get you more mileage from your moolah, while shedding unnecessary weight, using less air con and rolling are also considered top tips by the AA.

Official figures show that men are nearly 70 per cent more likely to be involved in a car crash than women.

Yet women outnumber men nearly six-to-one among those who seek to improve their driving through confidence or refresher driver training, according to data from the AA Charitable Trust.

Only 15 per cent of the 2000-plus who have put themselves forward for the charity’s free Drive Confident refresher courses are male.  Yet 86 per cent of participants say Drive Confident has made them safer; and three-quarters say it has helped them improve aspects of their driving such as motorways, roundabouts, night driving and driving in bad weather.

“In road safety terms, a lot of confidence is not necessarily a good thing – unless it is grounded in sound skills and a safe attitude.  Men are involved in two thirds more crashes than women.  Male dominance in statistics for speeding, in particular, suggests that confidence can often outstrip skill – with potentially fatal consequences. Given the safety record of men versus women, it appears the confidence shown by many male drivers may be misplaced,” comments the charity’s director and AA President Edmund King.

Male driver fact file:

• Men are involved in 70 per cent more reported accidents than women (133,995 versus 79,670 in 2009), according to government figures;
• Male drivers are almost one-and-a-half times more likely to have a driving conviction than female drivers.  The vast majority are for speeding, according to the AA’s portfolio of over 1 million insurance customers;
• Men are more than twice as likely to have a drink-drive conviction than women;
• There are more than twice as many road casualties amongst young men than young women;
• Men are outnumbered nearly six-to-one by women among those who seek to improve their driving through post-test confidence or refresher driver training.