Managing Human Factors in Driving

Research has shown that passing a practical driving test or course is not sufficient for a driver to be safe for life. Driver attitude and behaviour are known to be major contributors to road traffic collisions. Drivers hold distorted cognitions about their driving skills; believe they are less likely to be involved in an accident compared with their peers and may not consider they are at risk or need to change their driver behaviour. Driving instructors often know little about how to manage these ‘human factors’ in driving - hence the development of this course.

Gaining knowledge about the human factors in driving is highly desirable for driving instructors but being able to influence driver behaviour and attitude is even more crucial. To begin with, a standardized framework to address potential at-risk driver behaviour is unlikely to be effective unless the intervention is tailored to the individual driver. Today, driver education is increasingly focusing on raising awareness about risk and getting drivers to evaluate their abilities, personal strengths and weaknesses but this requires self evaluation using self assessment methods.

Self assessment has the advantage of individuals being able to report their beliefs, feeling and behaviours in a way that a driving instructor cannot be privy to. Individuals are the best judge of what their beliefs about driving are and can direct attention towards areas for improvement once their awareness is raised. A self assessment tool serves two purposes then. Firstly to raise awareness of ineffective driving strategies and responses - which in itself may be beneficial and secondly to provide a training needs analysis for driving instructors so they can provide training to target the attitudinal and emotional factors that are associated with unsafe driver behaviour.

A CPD 3 day short course is being offered by Dr Lisa Dorn of the Driving Research Group (DRG), Department of Human Factors to train driving instructors to use a self assessment methodology to address driver attitudes and behaviour. The DRG has a successful track record of working with both the public and private sector specialising in the development of psychometric driver risk assessments and bespoke behavioural and attitudinal training solutions designed to influence the human factors associated with crashes. The Driver Risk Index™ (DRI) is a self assessment tool designed to assess risk from a number of different behavioural, attitudinal and emotional aspects of driving. The findings from the research using the DRI have been reported in almost 40 academic publications.

‘Managing Human Factors in Driving’ will help you to understand the principles of the DRI and develop techniques to influence driver behaviour and attitudes. To do this requires good communication and rapport skills. The only way to achieve this is to develop excellent self-awareness and personal insight first so you can start to understand the way a particular driver thinks, feels and behaves.

The course covers five key areas. The first section considers the human factors in driving, focusing on the link between behaviour and accidents. The second section highlights learning styles, and how a driving instructor might adapt their training to get the best out of their student while the third section addresses communication skills. The final section trains trainers in the best way to use questioning techniques to facilitate the development of a safer approach to driving by understanding a driver’s motivation.

At the end of the course, trainers are introduced to the Coaching Goals Plan (CGP), whereby key risk areas for driver development are outlined and a strategy produced to coach individual attitudes and behaviours identified by the DRI. To satisfactorily complete the course, driving instructors are asked to complete two CGPs with the agreement of their students on any driver training course of their choice. Once assessed, Cranfield University will issue a CPD accreditation certificate.

If you would like further information please contact Lisa Dorn.

"An excellent course and trainer"
North Yorkshire Police

Overall Course Aim

To maximise driver trainer effectiveness by transferring driver coaching skills

• To introduce the psychological principles behind driver education and assessment of driver risk
• To facilitate the effective coaching using the principles of behavioural change, learning styles and communication skills
• To understand the driver coaching process and demonstrate that understanding in the use of a structured Coaching Goals Plan

Day 1 Objectives:

1. To increase awareness of human factors that influence driver safety
2. To introduce delegates to the Driver Risk Index™

Day 2 Objectives:

1. Affirm and approve communication skills
2. To facilitate the effective use of communication skills to influence driver behaviour
3. To introduce students to techniques to influence driver behaviour

Day 3 Objectives:

1. To demonstrate accurate completion of Coaching Goals Plan
2. To demonstrate ability to coach drivers from Driver Risk Index™ profile

Competencies

Competencies being assessed on the course are in line with Centrex’s 'Integrated Competency Framework'.

1. Accurately interprets high risk areas from the Driver Risk Index™ and summarises within the Coaching Goals Plan
2. Seeks acceptance of the Driver Risk Index™ findings in a feedback session
3. Identifies coaching goals by analysis of the Driver Risk Index™
4. Gives coaching at an appropriate pace and manner
5. Provides coaching appropriate to the identified risk factor
6. Modifies coaching according to changing needs
7. Gives timely feedback in a positive and encouraging manner
8. Accurately identifies and deals with factors inhibiting learning

General Information

Dates: TBA
Course Fee: £800

Course Director

Dr Lisa Dorn
Driving Research Group
Department of Human Factors
Cranfield University
Bedfordshire
MK43 OAL

Tel: +44 (0) 1234 758229
Email: l.dorn@cranfield.ac.uk

How to Apply

Fill in the booking form. Additional forms can be obtained by telephone / fax to the Academic Operations Unit . Alternatively, the form can be found on our website.

Professional Development Bookings:

Academic Operations Unit, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL

Tel: +44 (0) 1234 754176
Fax: +44 (0) 1234 751206
e-mail: shortcourse@cranfield.ac.uk

If you have any questions regarding arrangements, please contact the Academic Operations Unit . Questions regarding the course content should be directed to the Course Director.