Ryedale campaigners want to improve driver safety on rural roads. Reporter Richard Edwards, who is sick of being told his driving is terrible,

takes an advanced lesson to find out if he really

is so scary behind the wheel

Ryedale's road safety campaigners finally decided enough was enough. Last November they found themselves picking up the pieces of an horrific crash on the A64 in which three Thornton-le-Dale teenagers lost their lives.

The accident rocked the village that had been their home and Lady Lumley's secondary school in Pickering where they were taught.

Sadly, the three were not the first young people to die on North Yorkshire's roads - in 1999 alone there were 223 casualties in the 15 to 24 age range.

Determined to cut down on these figures, safety campaigners set up a group at Lady Lumley's to raise awareness of safer driving among young people.

A full day aimed at teaching young people to drive responsibly was also held at the school.

Ryedale doctor Tim Thornton, one of the road safety group's founder members, said at the time: "I was fed up with the prospect of unnecessary bereavement and people being rocked by more sadness. Something had to be done."

And it seems to be working. Without tempting fate, no young lives have been lost in Ryedale road accidents since that black day last year.

Now, the Malton branch of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is encouraging young motorists to sign up for it's advanced driving course. They hope to not only get young people through their test, but move them away from the feeling that unsafe driving is sexy by getting them to become advanced instructors.

n TO test my driving skills I signed up for an advanced lesson. Friends say my driving is scary so I looked forward to being assessed by advanced instructor Michael Borrows.

Michael has a gold diploma in advanced driving and has guided scores of motorists through their test.

This, he says, gives them improved all- round driving and the chance of a motor insurance discount.

Michael said he would take me on a 40- minute drive around Ryedale where he would check out my good and bad habits and assess me, not only from an advanced driving viewpoint, but let me know how I had have done in my basic test.

Setting off from Norton, I was determined not to change my driving in any way and let Michael see the 'real me' behind the wheel.

If he was nervous, he certainly wasn't showing it.

Between instructions, I asked him how and why he had become an advanced driver.

He said that after "a lot of years" driving motorbikes, he graduated to a car in 1989 and joined the local RoSPA group.

"I had only had a licence for a car for a year when I decided to have a go at the advanced test and it just sort of went from there," said Michael.

"Pretty much anyone, with enough tuition, can make it through the advanced test," he reckons.

The drive itself was fairly uneventful.

I was almost hoping someone would jump in front of the car or my mobile phone would ring, just to see Michael's reaction.

When we got back, however, Michael's verdict was brutal - I would not only have failed my advanced test, but my basic test as well.

'Firstly, we'll talk about speed limits," he said, sounding very much like the no-nonsense driving instructor he is. "They are there for a reason but you seem to show a total disregard for them. That alone would have been enough to make you fail.

"Your cornering left a lot to be desired. You just don't drive round tight country bends at 60 if you want to have any hope of getting through."

One thing people regularly point out to me is my tendency to drive too close to the person on front, or 'tailgate'. Michael noticed it too.

"Were you trying to read the stickers in their back windows?," he said. Point taken.

Where I did do well was awareness of what was happening on and off the road.

Michael added: "You scored there, checking your mirrors regularly and taking note of what was happening away from the road."

It wasn't enough to save me though.

I was still 'awarded' a big fat fail.

So was the criticism justified?

Michael said: "I was never scared, and you never put us in any danger.

"Mind you, after doing this for over ten years it's difficult to get scared.

"Yes, you've got a fair few faults, but they are nothing that couldn't be ironed out. I have seen many worse drivers than you take advanced lessons and make it through their tests.

"All it takes is the right tuition and the commitment from the driver to realise where their bad habits lie, why they have them and then the willingness to do something about them."

It was reassuring to hear I'm not the only one who holds a licence under false pretences.

"Far from it," said Michael. "I would say that most drivers would fail their basic tests. Not because they are bad drivers, but because bad habits have crept in. The reason for that is driving soon becomes second nature. You barely think about it.

"That is one of the main things advanced driving pupils are taught - not to become complacent and always being aware that hazards are lurking everywhere.

"This is the basis of advanced driving. Once someone has cracked it, they will pass."

The advanced driving course costs £10 for all the lessons you need, then £40 to take your test. For details ring Michael Borrows on 07941 113 405.

Updated: 11:10 Tuesday, May 15, 2001