Respected motoring expert and pioneering driver trainer Ian Luff came to Forbes High School last month to help students become safer drivers.
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The Drive to Survive program has been running for more than 30 years, delivering driver training and development to high schools and touching on all the major elements that a young road user will not learn from their parents.
Drive to Survive was founded by Ian in 1983. The student driver education program began in the late 1980s when students from Knox Grammar were tragically killed in two separate incidents.
Ian was asked by the board at the school to help educate young people on road safety as the pain of losing students this way was unbearable.
Since this time, Ian has delivered this road safety message to thousands of school students across NSW.
Ian has been to Forbes High School multiple times, thanks to funding by Evolution Mining (formerly Barrick Cowal gold mine), who sponsored the program for the third time this year.
“The Drive to Survive program allows us to impart safer driving principles for young inexperienced drivers who have to make life or death choices on a daily basis while driving,” Ian said.
“We are eternally grateful for the support of Barrick Cowal who have sponsored this program into Forbes High School, allowing us to deliver this important message to over 160 students completely free of charge.”
Ian said Drive to Survive is competency-based training through motivation.
“We have found that shock and awe tactics do not work, they only succeed in frightening students,” he said.
“Our process is empowering to allow students to make the best choices as they develop.”
Forbes High School students were put through their paces by Ian and learnt a range of skills including knowing where to look to anticipate danger; identifying distractions and avoiding them; developing a positive attitude towards driving; in-car stress management techniques (road rage); understand the time to stop a vehicle and gap management; cabin set-up (correct position to drive); mirror adjustment (blind spot removal); alcohol, drugs and fatigue effects on the driver; peer pressure and how to avoid it; understanding the police role in traffic affairs; speed selection for the environment; understanding illegal street racing; vehicle management and selection; and tyre discussion.