Co Driver Introduction

Welcome to Co-Driver

Personal Injury Crashes

The most common injuries sustained in a collision are caused by being rear-ended, losing control and turning at intersections.

As a co-driver, you should help your new driver understand where the risks are, and help them deal with these risks properly.

29% of all injuries are caused by getting rear-ended something that can be prevented with careful preparation.

At 28%, losing control is the second most common injury sustained in a collision. In most cases, these are single-vehicle incidents and the result of insufficient skill, knowledge or just poor judgement by the driver.

The third most common injury occurs during intersection turning and makes up 21% of injuries sustained. The most dangerous manoeuvre to attempt as a driver is turning left at an intersection. As the co-driver, you are in the worst possible position as you are sitting in the passenger seat (all you can do is trust your new driver).

Going through an intersection (be it a vehicle turning into your path or improperly observing the traffic signal) has accounted for 12% of the injuries sustained in a collision.

Being sideswiped has accounted for 5% of injuries in a collision.

Head-on collisions account for 2% of injuries sustained.

The Young Drivers evasive manoeuvres are designed to help drivers maintain control and will provide the new driver with the techniques necessary to prevent all manners of collisions.

Fatal Crashes

Collisions can result in fatalities, and the most common collision resulting in a fatality is when the driver loses control.

Loss of control does not initially involve another driver, and with 48% of all fatalities happening in a collision where lost control is the main factor, it tells us that many drivers grossly over-estimate the performance of their vehicle, and their driving ability and skill.

Head-on crashes result in 20% of fatalities. If you look back at the personal injury chart, you will see that head-on crashes only accounted for 2% of all injuries. That’s because head-on crashes do not occur very often, which is the good news. The bad news is that they are often fatal. Learning how to keep your new driver out of a head-on crash is vital.

Intersection maneuvers account for 18% of all fatal crashes. Anytime conflicting directions of traffic meet, there is an opportunity for an issue. The Young Drivers approach will provide your new driver with safe and easy methods to handle intersections.

Being rear-ended is next at 7%, followed by getting sideswiped at 4%. The previous chart tells us that rear crashes are very common and contribute to 29% of all personal injuries sustained in a collision. Although injuries caused by a rear crash can result in significant pain and potentially be permanent, they are rarely fatal.

Of all individuals involved in fatalities, 19% of them were pedestrians. Naturally, in an incident between a car and a pedestrian, the pedestrian is likely to lose. Knowing how to predict the actions of pedestrians and to have an escape route to avoid them is crucial to staying out of these collisions.

Presidents Message

How We Learn

To become the best possible co-driver for your new driver, it helps to understand how people learn.

Knowledge can only be acquired over time and by building on previous knowledge, but the rate at which it is learned is different for all new drivers. Some students will pick up your instructions quickly and others may not even hear you due to fear. Starting from the confusion stage due to not knowing what to expect, they move toward the clarity stage and after much practice reach the competence stage. Eventually, they reach the confidence stage and are ready for a road test.

There is a point in every lesson where the amount of information being presented to the student exceeds the amount of information the student can absorb. At this point, frustration and confusion sets in and this is when bad habits start to form. If you feel this is happening, it is better to suggest that they pull over and switch seats with you.

You can suggest “that’s enough for today” or “I will demonstrate what I was trying to explain”.

Research has shown that students tend to retain what is taught at the beginning and end of a lesson best, this relates to the primacy-recency effect. To increase the effectiveness of each session and reduce the amount of stress on the student and yourself, consider doing this:

  • Shorten the length of the practice session and increase the frequency of practice sessions. Instead of doing one long practice session a week, do two or three shorter sessions a week. This will prevent overloading a student and helps build confidence.
  • Ensure that the last portion of a practice session is a review of the first portion of the practice session, again ensuring the student can build confidence in what they are learning and helps to increase the amount of retention from each practice session.

Scoring System

For those taking a Young Drivers program, refer to the Young Drivers Performance Evaluation Report in the Young Drivers Student Portal. To make the most of this report you’ll need to know what the Young Drivers instructor is trying to convey when he is using one of the four colours.

When you see the colour red, it means that the skill was just introduced by the instructor. The instructor provided considerable verbal coaching and possibly physical assistance. “Red” skills should be considered very carefully before you practice them with your new driver. They should best be left to the in-car instructor, for now.

When you see the colour amber, it means that the skill has been introduced or reviewed, no longer requires physical assistance, but still requires some verbal coaching. These are the skills that you should focus on during the practice time with your new driver.

When you see the orange colour it means the skill has been reviewed and minimal verbal coaching is required by the instructor. These are also good skills to review with your new driver.

When you see the colour green, it means that your new driver can complete the skill independently without any coaching. We recommend that you continue to practice these skills with your new driver. We suggest that ‘green’ skills be included close to the end of your practice session. It’s a great way to ensure your practice ends on a positive note.

When you see a skill marked in black, it means it is a special skill that has been introduced by the instructor. Practice is not expected or required and this skill may not be scored again during your new drivers in car lessons. Some of the special skills are included during the highway/freeway drive and the evasive maneuvers lesson.

The goal is for all skills to reach ‘green’. Green means that your new driver is independent, competent and safe. It is possible for skills that were scored ‘green’ on a previous lesson to be marked as ‘amber’ or 'orange'. This is nothing to worry about – it is part of the learning process. Remember to include the skill in your next practice session.

A tendency for all learners is to practice the skills that they are good at. While this may help your new driver feel good, it won’t help other skills get any better. It is always your choice about what to practice with your new driver but let me offer a few tips:

  • plan your practice to include skills that are ‘amber’
  • hill parking for example may require your new driver to be in a specific area of your city
  • practice the skill more than once
  • repetition is the only way to make ‘amber’ skills ‘green’
  • less is more
  • shorter practice sessions covering a few skills work better to develop skill and confidence
  • safety first
  • pay attention to what is going on around your car as you practice
  • be ready to help your new driver if needed

Here is a summary of what the colours mean.

black (1)– skill introduced, practice not expected and may not be scored again

red (2)– skill introduced/reviewed, physical control by the instructor, more time with instructor needed

amber (3)– skill introduced/reviewed, moderate verbal coaching provided by the instructor, practice with co-driver recommended

orange (4) – skill reviewed, minimal verbal coaching provided by the instructor, practice with co-driver recommended

green (5) – skill reviewed, no verbal coaching required, continued practice recommended

The YD Collisionfree!™ Approach

The system your new driver is learning is based on forming habits.

Once a habit is formed, it becomes part of their thought process. This helps the new driver think like a driver, rather than someone who just follows rules. Habits can be said to happen automatically. We prefer to have the driver learn this way so there is less chance that the new driver will behave inappropriately in traffic.

The clip in the above video was sent in by a Young Drivers alumni. He was paying attention to the road ahead and his surroundings and was able to get out of harm's way using evasive maneuvers he learned at Young Drivers.