Flak Aimed at Pirelli Sponsored Young Driver Initiative

At the start of February it was announced that Pirelli Tyre Ltd has joined up as a sponsor for the ‘Young Driver’ training initiative, also sponsored by Seat and Admiral Insurance. At the time, managing director Dominic Sandivasci commented “we’re delighted to be able to demonstrate our commitment to improving road safety through our involvement in the Young Driver initiative. The Pirelli name is synonymous with the high performance and safety characteristics of its products, and as part of our extensive corporate social responsibility programme we are keen to support organisations that share our goal of making the road a safer place.”

Despite these positive words, Young Driver Training, who states its aim is to help future motorists “notch up years of potentially life-saving experience” while “having the time of their lives”, has been walloped by the Police Federation’s baton. Referring to the initiative’s allowance of 11-year olds to participate in the Young Driver programme, Inspector Alan Jones from the Federation commented “driving on one of these courses at 11 years old, it’s another six years until you can get a driving licence. How does it replicate the real world, the spontaneous incidents?”

Despite the off-road nature of the course, Jones also questioned the ability of younger teens to cope with the pressures of on-road driving.  “Are kids mature enough at 11, 12, 13 years old to understand what’s happening on the roads, to be able to manage all the demands and pressures? I’m not persuaded it’s a good idea.”

Even harsher in its criticism of the initiative has been the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. Ken Clinton, head of road safety for the RoSPA stated the scheme “will probably mean youngsters will take fewer lessons when they come to learn to drive and if they take fewer lessons they will get less experience. That means when they pass their test they may be at greater risk of crashing because they won’t have had as much experience when they are supervised.”

The initiative allows youngsters, for ₤29 per 30 minutes or ₤55 per hour, to slide behind the wheel of a dual control Seat Ibiza and experience the blistering power of its 1.2 litre injected three-cylinder engine.