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"Pass Plus" is a scheme to teach newly-qualified drivers certain skills that are not covered during normal pre-test training.
Newly-qualified drivers take up to 2 seconds longer than an experienced driver to see any possible hazard on the road. They have crashed before they have time to see any danger.
The existing pre-test training does not demand practical training during rush hours, at night, in bad weather or on rural roads and of course learners are not allowed on the motorways.
"Pass Plus" is designed to remedy these deficiencies.
With motorways, in particular, Learn & Live does not accept that training on dual-carriageways can substitute for experience of the speeds, joining and exiting problems, bunching and funnelling frequently experienced on triple-lane motorways.
Although statistically safer, the potential for serious accidents is much higher for the inexperienced driver.
Learn and Live considers that it is well worth the possible inconvenience of making a special arrangement, in order to ensure adequate training in these situations.
Learn and Live has been lobbying for such a scheme since 1990 and is pleased to see one of its proposals come to fruition.
However we are concerned that this scheme is only voluntary and that the insurance incentives may not be sufficient to attract wide-spread participation.
We hope, however, that parents will consider that the road safety benefits will be sufficient incentive to pay for the extra training.
Learn and Live argues that extra practice with a responsible supervisor is usually necessary in the pre-test training BUT PARENTS SHOULD NOT CONSIDER ATTEMPTING TO GIVE THIS SPECIALISED POST-TEST TRAINING THEMSELVES. If they pass on their own bad habits there is no means of counteracting these faults, under a voluntary system.
Approved Driving Instructors (ADIs) who operate the scheme, advertise in the local Press or you can obtain a list of names from the Driving Standards Agency (DSA).
ADIs' standards do vary. The DSA grades Approved Driving
Instructors through 6 levels (6 being the highest.) You should ask a
prospective instructor which grade he/she has and compare costs.
Not all insurance companies offer the same incentives. Some do not run
the scheme at all.
1. Does the reduction apply to:
a) parents' policies or
b) the young drivers' own policy?
2. Is the reduction available on both comprehensive and 3rd party policies?
3. Do they offer a fixed value voucher or cash rebate?
4.What would the premium and conditions be without "Pass Plus"?
5. For how long are the incentives valid?
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