I’m not a golfer, but have many friends devoted to the game. When not playing at the weekend, they’re at the driving range practicing in the evenings, endlessly trying to improve and knock a few shots off their handicap.
I said to one of them recently, “How often do you practice driving?” Assuming I meant golf he said he was having lessons and practiced each time he was at the range. He saw the funny side when I said I meant how often did he practice driving a ‘car’, yet my question was a serious one.
Why is it that people will invest time and money perfecting their driving at golf, but never give a moment’s thought to investing in the quality of their driving on the road.
It’s odd because by not having any further driver training after your basic test is the equivalent to a novice golfer learning the basics to get round a course, then accepting that that’s the standard they will play at for the rest of their life. Golfers see their game as a process of continuous improvement. Sadly many people don’t view driving that way.
The problem is, it’s a cultural issue. Society doesn’t view vehicle driving as something you invest and train in during your life, yet if you play a sport, or a musical instrument, or carry out any other activity in your life there’s often an expectation that you will learn, develop and improve.
If we are truly going to improve the standards of driving in the corporate sector, it is vital we recognise this.
Offering drivers an assessment and training is one step, but the long-term goal is to create a cultural shift in the corporate sector so that any form of poor or irresponsible driver behaviour, such as using mobile phones, speeding, taking excessive risks, are deemed culturally unacceptable, and that driver improvement is seen as the norm.
To achieve cultural shift takes effort but the long-term rewards are huge. Better driving equals less accidents which equals less money spent on repairs, hire cars and insurance premiums. It means less time soaked up processing and chasing accident claims and it means improved productivity through safe, happy employees and reduced downtime due to time off road.
Going back to golf, we practice our golf to reduce the chances of getting into difficulty on the course. Our aim is to arrive at our destination (i.e. the green) safely and with minimal stress. It’s the same with driving a vehicle, so perhaps the two things aren’t that dissimilar after all.
In fact, there’s another similarity I’ve noticed too. Golfers and drivers don’t accept criticism well. Tell a golfer they’re swing isn’t very good and you may receive a scowl rather than a thank you. However a well produced driver training course will offer feedback in a way that is accepted by drivers, which is probably why our online courses get such great feedback from those that use them.