Isle young motorists can save £150 and improve driving skills

North Lincolnshire Council’s Road Safety Team is working in partnership with the Scunthorpe Advanced Motorists, to give North Lincolnshire’s 17 to 24 year-olds the chance to improve their driving skills free of charge.
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This is a unique opportunity for drivers aged 17 to 24 to take the IAM (Institute of Advanced Motorists) Skills for Life advanced driving programme free (numbers are limited). The course usually costs £149. It covers all guidance, the IAM test and one year’s membership of the IAM and a year’s membership of the local group that you trained with.

The Skills for Life course is practical and effective at improving driving skills, reducing the risk of being involved in a collision, and improving confidence so that you can become a much better driver.

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At the end of the course you will be a safer, more confident driver with a real skill for life.

To qualify for the refund on the course young drivers will have to enrol on the course and pay as normal. Once the Skills for Life course has been successfully completed, you will get a full refund of £149.

Drivers must pass the advanced driving test within 12 months of starting the programme and be under 25 years-old on the day they take the test.

Richard Hall, Road Safety Team Manager at North Lincolnshire Council, said: “Young people often have no incentive to treat driving as a skill for life and look to learn as quickly and cheaply as possible. New drivers are most at risk in their first year of driving and yet many don’t go on to take the advanced driving programme. We want to prevent collisions from happening. This is why we have decided to work in partnership with the Scunthorpe group, to offer the incentive for young people and improve their skills by giving a refund on this advanced driving course. This course will make them aware of all the risks, and how to deal with them and drive safely - in turn improving their confidence in driving.”

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There are many well known risk factors of young people when driving including:

Lack of experience in all traffic conditions (rural road, darkness and poor weather)

Distraction by other passengers

Mobile phones

Drink and drugs

Many young people also lack confidence in their driving, particularly in the first years following their test and can easily pick up bad and often dangerous habits.

There are many additional incentives to completing the IAM Skills for Life course, such as the opportunity to get cheaper and often better car insurance. The IAM is a national road safety charity with over 100,000 members. It aims to make the UK’s roads a safer place by making people more skilful and aware of road users.

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Richard Hall added: “We would always encourage drivers who have just passed their test to take the advanced driving course. We want to lower the number of collisions on our roads and we aim to do this through raising awareness, and encouraging drivers from the outset to be safe and responsible.”

In 2013 eight drivers (17 to 24 years-old) were seriously injured and 124 received slight injuries. In 2014 one driver was killed, 10 seriously injured and 126 with slight injuries. The passengers in the cars were also injured.

To find out more about the Skills for Life advanced driving programme and the refund available call the Scunthorpe Advanced Motorists on 01652 655601 or email [email protected].

Scunthorpe Advanced Motorists is a registered charity made up of a team of volunteers who are constantly striving to improve driver skills. Chairman Terry Heath commented:

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“We are always keen to work with younger drivers due to the higher risk associated with the 17 to 24 age group. The relationship with the North Lincs Road Safety Partnership has enabled us reach to this audience and due to the generous funding they can now become an advanced driver and gain a ‘skill for life’.”

Please remember places are limited so be quick and make sure you don’t miss out.