Strategy for road user development

The concept of road user development being a cumulative learning process directed towards developing and maintaining positive and responsible road user attitudes and behaviour is central to the royal automobile club of Victoria (racv) and Australian automobile association policy on safety education and driver improvement. This paper describes a total integrated strategy of road user development, embracing preschool, pre licence traffic safety education (including pedestrian and bicycle education, and pre driver education and training), licensing, and post licence driver improvement programmes. Racv programmes initiated to demonstrate the feasibility of components of the strategy, and their adoption for the most part by the Victorian government are described. Initiatives which stem from the strategy are discussed in terms of graduated licensing, post licence driver education and preschool pedestrian safety programmes. These programmes have led to the conclusion that driving knowledge and positive attitudes are more critical to safe driving than manipulative driving skills. The paper advocates a total strategy of road user development as essential to up grade the standard of drivers generally, since the alternative of severe licence standards is socially and politically unacceptable in Victoria where a high value is placed on road based private transport mobility (a).