Goals and study questions: The BASIC project was launched by the European Commission in order to examine recent developments in basic education for category B drivers. Basic education in this case refers to driver education aimed at obtaining a driving license.
The specific aims of the project were:
1) To review the new models in use and under development in Europe.
2) To analyse and evaluate the new models (aims, contents, methods) concerning: support for learning and pedagogical and didactic solutions, functionality and internal consistency, costs and benefits and cultural and structural demands for the application of new methods.
3) To evaluate the effectiveness of models (possible safety and other effects) and possible restrictions of use, (e.g. effects of self-selection)
4) To make recommendations concerning new models in driver training in Europe.
In describing the models essential features of the systems were used (driving school instruction, layman instruction, short training period, extended learning period, combined models, multi-phase models and liberal models). The project also described the essential elements of training that may have learning effects. These elements were quantity of training/practice, duration of training, goals and contents of training, interpretation and targeting of the goals, degree of structure and control of training, amount and quality of feedback, training environment (how well the environment is supporting training), climate of training/teaching (does it encourage attitudinal change), training methods (practical, theoretical) and the relationship between practical and theoretical instruction.
Also, the different criteria for the effectiveness of driver training models was described and discussed (learners’ satisfaction, immediate learning effects like passing rates and quality of mistakes in examination, attitudes of new drivers and their driving behaviour: violations and different kind of accidents). The timing of the accident is also an important cue for evaluating the effectiveness of the system (during training, in intermediate phase, after licensing).
Traditional and new driver education systems were described and evaluated in Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, France and Austria. Evaluation studies made especially for the BASIC project included evaluations concerning the Austrian "L17" –model (Central Licence File data and a questionnaire survey), accidents while learning to drive in UK and in Finland (questionnaire surveys) and a questionnaire study on the accidents at the beginning of a driver's career in Finland.
The recommendations of the BASIC-project concerning driver education in Europe are based on both empirical results and theoretical considerations.
On the basis of the project material the ideal driver education system can be described as follows.
The ideal education system offers:
-clear goals and contents for training,
-enough feedback to improve behaviour and to learn,
-theoretical and practical training supporting each other,
-a possibility to gain enough experience,
-a valid environment to practice the necessary skills,
-a learning period long enough to commit the skills and knowledge learned to memory, and a learning climate favourable for safety
Recommendations of the BASIC project:
1. All the available training measures for achieving goals should be used. There is no single measure, which could be effective enough.
2. An Integrated Driver Education Approach (IDEA) is recommended, where structured professional methods are combined with accompanied practice.
3. Training should start in a structured way from the two lowest levels of the driving hierarchy and then continue to allow drivers to learn these skills automatically in traffic with an accompanying person.
4. An integrated approach is especially important for the youngest learner drivers before allowing them independent access to traffic.
5. In an integrated education approach the demands for professional instructors increase and thus, training of traffic instructors should be improved.
6. Accompanied driving should include not only a minimum amount of driving but also a structure and methods to control it.
7. The content of the driver examination depends partly on where it is situated in the integrated approach.
8. The interventions of professionals after the accompanied driving phase should clearly support more risk awareness and self-evaluation, rather than being technically oriented.
9. To be effective in increasing safety the whole process of the integrated driver education approach does not necessarily have to exceed two years, for example.
10. Professional driver education should be always available as an alternative to persons who do not have the possibility to follow the integrated approach.
11. If unnecessary examinations, meaning very low passing rates, were to be reduced, giving more structure to the training would be an effective alternative.